From The Eyes of the Hero
by NintendoGal55
Summary: In inspiration to Ferngirl's fanfiction, of TP through Midna's eyes. TO BE RE-WRITTEN.
1. Ordon Village Day 1

I'm sure this was done before, but I really wanted to do this after I read ferngirl's fanfiction _From The Eyes Of The Twilight Princess, _which tells the story of _Twilight Princess_ from Midna's point of view.

So this one will be told in Link's point of view! He won't speak, at least not with a dialog, but I hope to make an accurate description of what he's thinking! And it will be the whole stating of when he's explaining something, just without the words.

I have downloaded a visual guide to the game, which is basically a video of someone playing the game. So there will be actual dialog of what the characters are saying, and what they're doing and such.

I also won't spend too much time in the dungeons, only stating the important points of entering, battling the mini boss, getting important items, and fighting the boss.

Oh yeah, and also, the Hero of Time (in other words, Link from _Ocarina of Time_ and _Majora's Mask_) really is _Twilight Princess_ Link's ancestor. XD It was confirmed on a Zelda Wikipedia site.

And finally, there will be some LinkxMidna implications. So it'll also be a fairly realistic idea if Link and Midna did fall in love, and yet never really spoke it out or anything.

Enjoy! :)

--~~--~~--

The soft yet fairly loud trickling of the small waterfalls in the spring, known as Faron Spring, rang in my ears as I sat near the shore of the water. It was sunset, also to be known as the hour of twilight.

My friend, and mentor, Rusl, sat beside me. He was a blacksmith and the only swordsman in the village.

We had just finished gathering some sticks and wood in Faron Woods, which were now bundled on my horse, Epona. She stood a few yards away from us, patiently waiting.

My train of thought was interrupted when Rusl suddenly broke the silence.

"Tell me...Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?"

I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but I stayed quiet as he continued.

"They say it's the only time when our world intersects with theirs..." He continued, looking out to the water. "The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who left or world. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight..."

He paused for a moment, and then turned to me.

"But enough talk of sadness...I have a favour to ask of you, Link."

I turned my head to look at him as he spoke those words, pleasant and curious as to what he wanted to ask of me.

"I was supposed to deliver something to the royal family of Hyrule the day after tomorrow...Yes, it was a task set to me by the mayor, but...would you go in my stead?" Rusl paused for a moment and remembered something. "You have...never been to Hyrule, right?"

That was true. All my life, I had never gone beyond Faron Woods or our village. I always led a quiet life, fairly unaware of the places beyond here. I had heard stories from Rusl, and the rest of the villagers, but I had never seen Hyrule for myself.

I never really had much reason to go there, nor the desire. On the other hand, I did pertain the idea of maybe venturing there to see what it was like with my own eyes, but also, it never really came up.

Rusl continued on, turning back to the spring. "In the kingdom of Hyrule there is a great castle, and around it is Castle Town, a community far bigger than our little village. And far bigger than Hyrule is the rest of the world the gods created. You should look upon it all with your own eyes." He then stood. "It is getting late...We should head back to the village. I will talk to the mayor of this matter."

He went to where Epona was standing, and I stood up as well, following him.

I took Epona's reins in my right hand, holding the rest in my left. I couldn't help but glance at the odd birthmark that was on the back of my left hand. It was apparently what Rusl said to be the crest of the royal family of Hyrule, which were three triangles, with one on the top and two side-by-side. It symbolized all three of the Goddesses that created Hyrule.

Rusl had also once said that it proved I was a descendant of a great hero back in the past, who was known as the Hero of Time. I never really believed that, no way could I be the descendant of the great hero. I was just an average farm-boy.

But I digress.

Rusl led the way toward the village as I followed behind him, guiding Epona very slowly as we went across the bridge leading away from Faron Woods and to our village.

I helped Rusl as he closed the gate, which was covered in vines and pretty flowers. I stood by as he locked the gate with a small padlock and a key. We then continued on, past Ordon Spring.

We reached my house, which was perched on a small rise above the ground, outside the village. It was apparently built for when my family had moved here, but they died when I was a baby, so I didn't even know my own family. It was a pretty peaceful, and homey little place.

Rusl bid me farewell as I stood there near the ladder, watching him go.

Uli, his wife, and their son Colin were waiting for him near the entrance to the village. Uli was a lovely blonde woman, and was heavily pregnant with the family's second child. Colin was a young boy, and a friend of mine. He was timid and shy, but very sweet.

As the family departed to the village, Colin turned around to look at me, grinning. I smiled back at him, giving him a small nod.

--

After a while, I was in my house storing some wood away, and then I'd ascended up to the loft to put something away, when I heard someone calling me outside.

"Hey! Link! You there?"

I went to the upper level of my house and peered out the opening window to see who it was. Sure enough, it was Fado. He was the owner of Ordon Ranch, and around the same age as I was. He was taller than most average humans, and very muscular. I helped him out on the ranch, since he needed help a lot of time, and was fairly irresponsible to do it o his own. He often came to me during the day when he needed help herding the goats.

"Hey, you mind helpin' me herd the goats? They ain't listening to me lately!" Fado called up to me.

I nodded and ducked back into my house, descending the ladders to the lower floors. It figures, the goats were apparently a bit skittish lately, and we didn't really understand why. Oh well, I always managed to get the job done no matter what happened.

When I came outside, I saw that Epona was no longer where I'd left her. Where had she gone?

It struck me then. I was pretty sure what happened.

Ilia.

With that in mind, I went the opposite direction toward Ordon Spring.

Sure enough, when I got there, Epona was in the ankle-deep water, with Ilia.

I paused in my steps as I came near the shore, watching Ilia as she came into the light of the twilight. She reached out, gently touching Epona's muzzle, not noticing me. I felt my breath hitch lightly as I watched her.

Ilia was my longtime childhood friend and the village Mayor's daughter, and it was no question that I adored her. She was always so cute, so sweet, and very much in touch with nature. She especially loved Epona as much, if not more, as I did. Although sometimes I was admonished by her for various reasons, she could never stay mad at me for very long.

For the longest time, I had a little bit of a crush on her. Even now, I felt it bloom into something more. I was unfamiliar with it, but I didn't let it bother me.

Ilia finally noticed me. "Oh, hi Link." She turned to me and smiled, gesturing to Epona. "I washed Epona for you!"

That figured. She did that often, taking Epona to the Ordon Spring and washing her, giving her a little break.

Catching my breath, I smiled at her, and nodded slightly.

Once I regained myself, my eyes fell to the horseshoe-shaped grass sitting near the spring. There was this song that Epona liked, so I often played it on the grass when I wanted to call her.

So I took a strand, and brought the blow hole to my lips, softly blowing out the song Epona liked. Ilia called it Epona's Song, since she liked it and came to you when you played it.

Sure enough, Epona came running toward me, stopping a few yards away. I mounted onto her saddle, gave Ilia a nod and then gently nudged Epona with my heels, to which she responded by trotting out of the spring. I nudged her into a light gallop as we headed back to the village.

Ordon Village was very tiny, consisting of a general store, and four houses, five if you included mine. There was also Ordon Ranch up ahead past the Mayor's residence. There was a small lake with a stream going through the village.

Sera, the ownder of the general store known as Sera's Sundaries, had just closed up her shop for the night while her husband Hanch, and their daughter, Beth, waited with her. Rusl was on a small dock in the stream, practicing some sword techniques with his sword while Colin and Uli watched.

I gave a wave to everyone I passed as I rode Epona to Ordon Ranch. It was getting late, so I wanted to get there soon so that we could get this over with.

We arrived in Ordon Ranch, which was a large chorale and a barn. There were some goats grazing along, and Fado was in the middle of it, waiting for me. I slowly had Epona approach him.

"Sorry to get you over here in such a hurry, Link!" Fado apologized. "These guys have been awful skittish lately. They won't listen to a word I say. Sorry to ask, bud, but how's about you an' Epona herd 'em into the barn real quick? We ain't got much time, so you think you can do it for me?"

I nodded, leading Epona to the middle of the coral. Fado moved to the side to give us some room.

"Much obliged there, bud! OK, then, go on an' herd all these little scamps into the barn for me!"

That being said, I nudged Epona into a gallop and gave a loud whoop toward the first few goats that were standing near me. That was how you herded goats successfully, especially on horseback. You would guide your horse toward a couple of goats at a time, and let out a shrill whoop so that you could get their attention and lead them toward the barn. Kind of like how certain dogs were used for this job, and herding sheep.

It didn't take very long to herd the goats into the barn. Once I was done, Fado went and closed the doors, making sure all the stables were secure.

Fado came over to us once we'd finished herding the goats into the barn.

"Link, Epona... Much obliged to both of y'all! I can cover everythin' tomorrow without havin' to trouble you, so just sit back an' relax, bud." He paused, getting an idea. "Oh...but uh, how 'bout today? Wanna practice with the fences? Just wait a spell, bud. I'll get the fences up."

With a shrug, I waited patiently as Fado fetched the fences from near the barn and went to set them up along the coral. There were three of them.

Once he was finished, he came and stood a few yards away from us to the side.

"Hoo, sorry that took so long! OK, then! Y'all ride all you want! Y'all get tired of ridin', just jump the gate an' head back into the village, OK, bud?"

I didn't exactly plan on it, but I decided to humour him and also give Epona a little jumping practice.

Nudging Epona's ribs, I had her run to the first fence, and she gracefully leaped over it. We went to the next fence, and she leaped over it.

After a few minutes, I led her to the gate and we rode on back into the village.


	2. Ordon Village Day 2

I won't add commentary here at the top unless I have something to say about the chapter or whatever. XD

--~~--

The next morning, I was roused by a voice shouting to me from outside.

"Hey, wake up, Link! It's morning already!"

Peering out the window confirmed by suspicions. It was Talo, along with his little brother Malo, and Beth. They were the village children along with Colin. Talo and Malo were Jaggle and Pergie's sons. Talo was the oldest, and very mischievous, obnoxious, and loved having fun. Malo was the youngest, having the appearance of a baby. Despite that, he spoke very sternly and affably like an adult, acting like he was the older sibling.

Beth, as mentioned before was Hanch and Sera's daughter. She was around Talo and Colin's age, and thought of the other children as "babies". She was very sassy, lady-like, and had a crush on me. Unlike the rest of us, she longed for a life in the city and didn't like being confined in a small town, especially with goats.

I was always a constant source of amusement to these three children. Colin also, but he hardly came around when these three were with me. They teased him all the time just because he was shy and timid.

They came to my house almost every morning, asking me to play with them, and usually waking me up.

So, I got dressed ascended the ladders in my house, coming outside. I overheard Talo mentioning that the store had a slingshot in stock, asking Beth if he could borrow it. She of course said no, that if they wanted it, they had to buy it.

Hmmm...

I went past the children and into the village.

Jaggle as atop one of the plateaus, looking out around the village. As I went by, he called down to me.

"Yo Link! Yo! Up here! I wanna talk to you! Yell up to me so we can chat!"

What was the point of that when I could just climb up and talk to him there?

I climbed the vines to where he was as he watched me climb up.

"Whoa. Hey. You climbed up here without even yelling up at me first. You're a spry one, huh?"

I shrugged, deciding not to really argue about it. I never really spoke that much anyway, since I kept to myself a lot of the time. I did speak directly when needed to, but I was more of one to speak with actions and gestures.

"Well, whatever...Check this out over here..." He turned toward the creek, behind his house where a small dock was. There was a cat standing near the edge of the creek, staring down into the water. I think it was Sera's cat. "You know Sera, at the general store? Well, isn't that her cat over there? He's just been sitting there next to my house, having a staring contest with the creek."

Jaggle looked back at me with a silly grin. "You don't suppose he's thinking he's gonna catch a fish, do you? Ha ha ha! A cat can't catch no fish! Anyway, that's not what I was meaning to tell you about. I want you to take a look at something..." He looked back to the other plateau located behind this one. "See that grass growing over there on the edge of that rock? Haven't I seen you whistling with that stuff? I figured it was pretty rare to see it growing in a place like that, so I thought I'd let you know. I bet you could hop across these rocks with a quick little jump, couldn't you?"

I saw that the grass he was pointing out to was bird-shaped grass, much like the horseshoe-shaped grass. I believe this grass was used to call a hawk, where you could use it to do various things.

Suddenly, I remembered something.

I hopped over to the other rock, and took a blade of the grass, whistling into it the little song to call over the hawk.

"Tweeeeeoooooeeeeeooooo!"

I heard the hawk let out its cry as it responded to the call. It flew down toward me, and I outstretched my arm so it could perch on it.

Turning around, I slowly looked toward Hanch and Sera's house. I remembered seeing a hive in the tree above the house, which apparently was made by some Hylian hornets. I'd had to get some down before, and it was always a doozy if you got close.

I released the hawk, and it flew to the nest, knocking it down. The hornets all flew away, and some bee larvae fell out of the hive. It was handy for fishing bait, apparently.

Suddenly, I heard squealing nearby. I turned around, and further out down the creak, I could see a monkey hopping up and down, holding something. I couldn't make out what it was, but it was holding something above its head and hopping up and down.

I hopped over the rocks, over the shop's roof, and to a plateau a bit further away. There was hawk grass growing there too, so I used it to call down the hawk again. The hawk came down and perched on my outstretched arm.

Carefully, I aimed the hawk for it to fly at the monkey, careful not to harm it, and grab the object. It few to the monkey, took hold of the object in its talons and circle around.

The hawk came flying back to me, dropping the item which I caught in my hands, holding it above my head. It was a cradle. I wasn't sure how the monkey got it, or where it got it, but that didn't matter. I remembered that Uli was having another baby soon, so maybe she could make use of it.

I hopped over to the roof, over the rocks and back down onto the ground. I saw Uli standing near the creek, along the pathway leading to her house. She was holding a basket under her arm, and was looking out to the water with a worried and puzzled expression, as though looking for something.

When she saw the cradle, she gasped.

"Oh my...Link! I have been looking for that cradle! I made it when my first child was born, and I have cherished it all these years. Did you know of this somehow? Did you find it and bring it back to me on purpose?" She cocked her head slightly. "My thanks to you! That reminds me... There is something I am supposed to give you...Do you think you could carry that cradle and come back with me to my house?"

I nodded and slowly followed behind her back to her house. When we got there, she sat down on the porch, setting the cradle beside her.

"My thanks to you, Link. Yes, yes...I had nearly forgotten...I am supposed to give you this...All right...Here you go!"

Uli took something sitting behind her and handed it to me. It was a simple black and yellow fishing rod with a bobber. Colin had mentioned the other day that he was making a fishing rod he wanted to give me, so this had to be it.

"It is a little...unpolished." Uli said softly. "My son, Colin, made this under the instruction of his father. You can use it if you like."

Hey, why not? Fishing was pretty fun.

I thanked Uli for the fishing rod and then went to the dock next to Jaggle's house. Sera's cat was still there, looking down into the water at the fish.

Taking out the fishing rod, I cast it into the water, letting the bobber float as the hook sank into the water. Within a few seconds, the bobber sank and a fish caught the hook. I pulled the rod back in, holding it up as I pulled out of the water completely. I smiled, I caught a fish!

Sure, it was a greengill, which you could find anywhere, but hey, each to his own. A fish was a fish.

I tried to let it go, but it slipped behind me and fell to the ground. The cat, seeing this, pounced at the fish and grabbed it into its mouth, running off.

I stared off after it in surprise, my jaw hanging open. The cat ran back around the house, across the small bridge, around a corner and went through the small cat door of the shop. Well.

With a shrug, I put the rod away and followed after, going to the shop.

I found the cat sitting on the counter, lapping up some milk from a small dish. Sera was watching her cat lovingly, holding a half empty bottle of milk in her hand. She looked up and saw me, smiling.

"Oh, my! Link! Come in!" She cajoled. "Oh, you simply MUST hear this! My little kitty cat is so amazing! Today, he caught a fish all by his little old self! How do you think he caught it? Maybe he's a genius!

Well, I just didn't have the heart to tell her that it was really me who caught the fish. Her cat just took it from me.

Sera looked back at her cat and smiled more. "Ohhh, just look... Isn't he so cute, the way he laps up that milk?"

I smiled a bit, nodding. I didn't really take much note about how it looked when an animal was eating or drinking, I did have to admit her cat looked cute as he was drinking his milk.

Then Sera held the bottle out to me. "Say, m'dear, why don't you have some, too! I'm in a good mood, so it's on the house today!"

Why not? I liked drinking milk, and it was good for growing bones. Besides, she was offering it to me for free. It wasn't everyday someone was in a good enough mood to sell you something on a discount! So I thanked her and accepted the bottle.

I drank down the milk from the bottle, savouring the cool and creamy liquid as it went down my throat. Once I finished it, I held it out to Sera to give it back.

"Oh, don't worry, you don't have to return the empty bottle, m'dear. You can reuse it-you know, put something else in it. Recycling is a very important thing, m'dear! I'm sure YOU'D never do anything of the sort, but kids these days toss things out like the whole world was disposable! It's criminal! So, what do you say, m'dear? Is there anything you want today? If you're interested, take a look around."

With a shrug, I scanned what she had in stock today. There was milk, bee larvae to use as fishing bait, and the slingshot Talo had mentioned. Hey, why not? I'll buy the slingshot and amuse the kids with it. Who knows, it could even come in handy as well.

I pointed to the slingshot.

"The slingshot is 30 Rupees. Do you want to buy it, m'dear?"

I nodded.

"What are you doing buying a slingshot, you naughty thing? You're too old for toys! Will you at least let the kids play with it? Oh, I should tell you, if you happen to run out of pellets, you can also use pumpkin seeds." Sera took the slingshot from the shelf and handed it to me with the little packet to hold the pellets. "See you again soon!"

Thanking Sera, I put the slingshot into my pack and left the shop.

Going back to my house, I saw Rusl coming my way as he was going toward the village. He looked at me and smiled.

"Ah, just in time, Link! I just delivered something to your room! Oh, I see you got the fishing rod. Colin will be pleased. And it works better than you would think, right? Well, have a good one..."

I nodded to him and he headed off into the village.

Turning to my house, that was when I noticed Colin for the first time. He was standing in front of Epona, who was next to my house. Talo, Malo and Beth were still standing together, waiting for me and talking to each other.

As I approached the ladder, I noticed a spider creature on it. Putting my slingshot to good use, I drew it and shot a pellet at it. The spider fell to the ground and then exploded into nothing. Well, so the slingshot really did come in handy!

I climbed the ladder to get into my house, wondering what it was that Rusl left there.

When I entered, I saw a chest sitting there in the middle of the floor near the entrance to my basement. I went over to it and popped the lid open, pulling out a long wooden sword. So that's what it was! Rusl had made a wooden sword for me to train with! In the past, he'd taught me basic sword techniques, and surprisingly, I was pretty good with a sword, even if I'd humbly say that I wasn't THAT good. And I wasn't, but I was decent enough.

I strapped the sword to my back, inserting through the obi I wore around my waist, and went back outside. I definitely had enough material to amuse the kids for a few hours.

Talo noticed me, and became excited. "Link has a slingshot! WHOA!"

"Wow!" Beth crooned. "You had enough money to buy it, Link?"

Before I could answer, the kids set me up to face the targets they'd set around near my house, to practice with the slingshot. I decided to humour them and practice with it, making them impressed and delighted.

There was also two scarecrows that I could shoot at.

"Prepations complete..." Said Malo.

"OK, wow, this is great!" Talo exclaimed. "Let's see how powerful that slingshot is! Hit the targets AND those scarecrows!"

Beth scoffed. "I can't believe you two brats are so obsessed about this. It just shows what little boys you both still are. These two idiots will never shut up about it, so I guess you'll just have to show them, Link."

Guess I'd have to.

I took out the slingshot, and aimed it at the first scarecrow, knocking off its "head".

"That's amazing, Link!" Talo exclaimed in amazement.

"The slingshot manual said that it's easier to hit things if you hold while you aim it!" Beth gushed.

Malo frowned at this. "Did you call US obsessed with this thing? You're the one memorizing the manual..."

I ignored their comments and went to work on shooting off the other scarecrow's head, and then the targets one by one. I followed Beth's advice by holding my shot as I aimed before releasing the pellet.

Once I shot them all, the kids were amazed and impressed. Even Malo was pretty impressed.

"Whoa! Amazing, Link!" They all said.

"Hyahh! Thanks, Link!" Beth cooed.

I smiled at them humbly and put my slingshot away.

"Gee, you really are amazing, Link!" Said Talo.

"Yeah, you are!" Beth agreed. "You can use swords and slingshots and everything!"

"Hey, yeah, that reminds me, you've gotta teach us how to use a sword, too! Seriously! Lately these monkeys have been coming out of the woods and playing tricks on us! We want to get them GOOD! C'mon, teach us how to use a sword!" Talo cried.

I nodded. Why not? There was no harm in showing them the basics of using a sword. It would help them defend themselves from danger.

"YES!" Talo exclaimed.

Fixing the scarecrow, I set it up before me and stood a few yards from it. The kids stood off to the side, and Talo had a short stick as a makeshift sword.

"All right! First off, we wanna see THAT move! The slice!" Talo instructed. "Uh...you just swing, right?"

I drew the wooden sword and swung it at the scarecrow, causing it to shake violently.

Talo cheered happily. "Wow! A horizontal slice! Was that it? Was it? I think I've seen you do a vertical slice before too. All right, next..."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Beth interrupted. "I wanna see that other move, Link! Yeah! The one where you tilt to flex your muscles and...stab!"

"...Oh please. The stab?" Malo mumbled.

OK, so they wanted the stab, did they? As they wished!

With that, I held out the wooden sword and stabbed at the scarecrow, shaking it again.

"Ooh, Link! Just amazing!" Beth cooed happily. "Since you're at it, how about you show us that other move... Y'know, that twirly thing you do! I love that! What do you call it? A spin attack?"

"Like it's hard to briefly hold and release it." Malo mumbled again.

Remembering the spin attack, I lowered myself down and held my sword outstretched. Then I spun it around in a huge arc around my body, causing the kids to duck their heads as I hit the scarecrow again.

"Ooh, WOW! Thanks, Link!" Beth crooned. "I'm sorry you have to waste your time with these little brats when you must be tired from doing all the important stuff you do!"

"Hey! Wait!" Talo said. "You've gotta show us the jump attack before you go! You know, the one where you go "HYAAH!" and leap through the air!"

Malo mumbled under his breath again, but I caught what he said.

I then leaped into the air and brought the sword down on the scarecrow's head, breaking it again.

"WHOA!" All the kids shouted in amazement.

Once I was done, I took a breath and turned to the kids as they were looking at me with impression and admiration.

"Thanks, Link! So, uh, I...I think I get it...Kinda...Hmm...Maybe not... So this means that anytime one of those naughty monkeys shows up..." Talo then looked off to the right. "WAH!"

We all turned to the direction he was facing, and saw a monkey standing near the path that led to Ordon Spring and Faron Woods. It was wearing a small red flower behind its ear, indicating that it was probably female. I realized that it was the same monkey that I had rescued the cradle from!

The monkey realized we'd seen her and then leaped away down the path.

"C'MERE, YOU!" Talo yelled, chasing after it. Malo and Beth followed suit.

Well that was dandy. Apparently they didn't hear a word any of their parents said about NOT going into the forest. It was now up to me to go after them and bring them back. I'll have to remember to give them a good scolding later on.

That aside, I worried easily when the slightest things went wrong. Even right now, since children going into the forest was WAY too dangerous without an adult.

I inserted my sword around my waist, mounted Epona, and rode off after them down the path leading to the spring and the forest.

I noticed Beth standing nearby, which obviously meant Malo and Talo were up ahead. Malo was near the spring, but Talo wasn't.

So it meant Talo had definitely gone after the monkey while Malo and Beth didn't follow after him the rest of the way. So I crossed the bridge on Epona, going into Faron Woods.

Talo was nowhere to be seen. Oh no, where could he have gone to?

Epona leaped over the fence barring the entrance to Faron Srping, and I guided her into the small cave that led further out into the forest.

Up ahead was another gate leading into a cave, that led further out into the woods. To my right was apparently what Rusl said to be the way leading to Hyrule. I hadn't gone that way before, and I saw a small house there. There was a man sitting in front of a fire pit, with a weird gourd on his back. He had a large afro, with a bird's nest in it. Apparently he was Coro, a man who sold lantern oil.

Maybe he saw where Talo had gone, and could point me to him. Talo could either have gone into Faron Woods, or out to Hyrule. I hoped it wouldn't be the latter.

I approached him, and he looked at me with amazement.

"Whoa! An Ordonian! Hey, guy! Listen, I'm not sure you should be wandering around these woods without a lantern. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean that it's safe. There are tons of caves and dank spots around here that get pretty dark even in the middle of the day. Here! Go on, guy. Take this!"

Coro reached beside him and handed me a lantern. It would need oil in order to work right.

"See, I sell lantern oil here... I'm trying to drum up sales by giving away free lanterns! It's a business tactic, guy!"

Mm, that _was_ a smart idea. Give someone a lantern for free, and they'd come back to get some oil. I guess I'd have to come back here sometimes for a refill if I needed it.

"See," Coro went on. "as long as you've got oil to fuel your lantern, you can light your way and set fire to stuff. They're the best! Go on, guy! Try setting a fire under that big pot!"

I guess it was worth a try. The lantern already had oil in it, so I lit it, setting fire to the pit under the pot. I thanked Coro for the lantern and mounted Epona, deciding to go into Faron woods to find Talo.

When we got to the gate, Epona became nervous and refused to go further since there was a strange mutated plant sitting there. I understood and dismounted her, giving her a soothing pat on her head. Then I drew my wooden sword and slashed at the deku baba, killing it.

I went through into Faron Woods, even further than I'd gone. Along the way, there were strange, purple monsters that attacked at me as I went along, but I took care of them with my trusty wooden sword. It was a wonder it didn't break. There were also some bats known as keese hiding around that flew at me, but I got them too with my slingshot.

I eventually found a key, that was to unlock a gate nearby leading into another area of Faron Woods I'd never been to before. Rusl had, and said there was some kind of entrance to a large tree that was usually blocked off.

Going through, I noticed a small stand where a bird was selling lantern oil and red potion. The bird, who said its name was Trill, offered for me to come buy something. I filled my empty bottle with oil and paid the 20 rupees.

I then saw a path leading up to a huge, colossal tree. At the entrance, I could hear screaming and the sound of a monkey squealing in fright. Talo and the monkey must have been captured, no wonder they were taken here!

Hurrying up the path to the tree, I saw that Talo and the monkey from before were trapped in a small, round cage. Two of the purple monsters I'd fought off before were standing guard by them. I ran in and killed them off before breaking the cage.

The monkey cheered, clapping her hands and Talo gave out a relieved and happy cry of delight.

As we left, the monkey gave a cheer in thanks and then hopped away. I led Talo out of the woods, going back to where I found Coro. It was the hour of twilight, getting pretty late. Poor kid, he was definitely in trouble now.

"If you hadn't come, Link... Gee, me and that would've gotten eaten, probably! She's actually a pretty nice gal, that monkey... She tried to protect me, so we got captured together." Talo explained, looking guilty. "Um, Link... You're not gonna mention this to my dad, are you? He's always telling me to never, EVER, go into the forest, 'cause he says it's dangerous... So you really can't tell him! Really! You have to promise!"

Then he turned and ran off back to the village, with me staring after him. I felt bad for the poor kid, and I didn't like breaking a promise, but I knew that Jaggle and Pergie had to know about this. There was no way I could ever lie to them.

"Link!" I heard some call to me.

I turned to the direction of Coro's place, and saw Rusl coming up to me from there. He must have heard about what happened and came to look for Talo also.

"My son told me Talo disappeared into the woods and had not returned. I came as soon as I heard..." He explained. "But it looks like you have brought him home already... I apologize. Such a task should not fall to you."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Tell me, have you noticed how strange this wood seems lately? I feel...uneasy about what may lie in wait... Anyway, Link... Tomorrow is finally the day. You will be departing for Hyrule. I think it is a good thing I have given this task to you... Good luck! And return safely! If you are lucky, you may even get to meet Princess Zelda! Ah ha ha!" Rusl laughed at this.

Oh yes, Princess Zelda, the Princess of Hyrule. Apparently she was the young ruler now that her father had recently passed away. Rusl told me that he heard around in Castle Town that she was beautiful, very serene and calm, and pleasant to be around.

I had to admit, I was feeling a bit nervous about leaving Ordon for the first time. But I knew that I could do all right, apparently being told how brave and strong I am. I think I'll do fine.

Without any further ado, I followed Rusl back to Ordon. It had been a long day.


	3. Ordon Village Day 3

The next day, also the day that I was to depart for Hyrule, I was at Ordon Ranch, sitting on the grass as I waited for Fado to be done preparing the stables in the barn.

"Hey!"

I looked up to see Fado come running toward me from the barn. I stood up and waited for him to reach me.

"So, almost time for you to get goin', huh, Link? So how's about we finish up early today, bud?"

I nodded and went over to the horseshoe grass I was standing next to, plucking a blade and whistling Epona's Song through it.

Epona whinnied from behind me and I turned around to see her coming running. When she reached me, I mounted the saddle, ready to go.

"OK, let's get started!" Said Fado.

It didn't take long to herd the goats into the barn, and soon the last one was in. I rode over back to Fado as he was finished putting up the fences.

"Hoo, boy, but y'all can herd! That was faster than usual! Well, that about wraps 'er up for today, so how's about y'all head on over to the mayor's place?"

I nodded and then nudged Epona into a gallop, hoping over the fence and the gate, going back into Ordon Village toward the mayor's house.

Ilia was out front, and noticed us coming. She smiled and came over to walk with us. Mayor Bo came out from the house, noticing us also. He was a large, portly fellow, his body was huge muscle. For some reason, he had short horns sticking out near his nose.

"Oh, done herdin' for the day, Link? Well, nice work." He said.

I stopped Epona and dismounted, going over to the Mayor. He brought his arm around me and went on while Ilia tended to Epona.

"The royal gift Rusl told you about is ready, so you should get ready for your trip to Hyrule Castle. Now, the royal family requested this gift specifically, so it's real special. It'd be...bad...if the representative of Ordon were to be late for such an occasion, you get me, lad?"

I heard Ilia speaking to Epona behind us. "The path before you is a long one, my sweet horse...but please bear Link safely along it. Wait... What's this?"

Her question caught my attention and we turned around. She was kneeling by Epona's left foreleg. Then she turned to me.

"What happened? She's injured, isn't she?" Ilia wanted to know in an accusing tone.

Ashamed, I couldn't reply as I looked away. Ilia came over and glared.

"Link! How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again! I bet you hurt her leg jumping the fences, didn't you!"

As I recoiled in terror, Mayor Bo tried to reason with her.

"Now, now, Ilia. There's no need to get so hot with him..."

"FATHER!" She screamed, turning to face him. "How can you be so easy on him? You're the MAYOR! You should start acting like one!"

Mayor Bo hung his head, unable to respond to that. I hung my head also, squeezing my eyes shut.

"You poor thing..." Ilia murmured to Epona.

I cracked one eye open, glancing at Bo as he did the same.

"It'll be all right, Epona. I'll take you to the forest spring right now. Once we soothe you in the spirit's spring, you'll feel better in no time!" Ilia said as she slowly led Epona away, going to Ordon Spring.

Mayor Bo and I stared after her in shock. Bo was thinking the same I was when he tried to call after her.

"W-wait! Ilia!!! Why, without Epona... The gift won't get delivered in time! Oh, this won't do..."

I realized that he was right, I couldn't just sit here and take this. I needed Epona in order to get to Hyrule on time. In all honesty, I did want her to feel better and be in top shape, not to mention I felt guilty for pushing her too hard when I didn't realize it. But I had to do this, I couldn't let Rusl, Bo, or Princess Zelda down like this.

So I hurried out of the village to get to the spring. When I reached my house, Colin was there waiting for me, while Beth was next to my house, and Talo and Malo were blocking the way to the spring.

Colin saw me and gasped. "......Link, are you going to see Ilia? Maybe it's just me...but those guys don't normally let people through." He gestured to where Malo and Talo were, then turned back to me. "Um, Link, you think... You think we could go see Ilia together?"

I smiled at him and nodded yes. He came with me as I approached Talo and Malo where they were standing.

Talo grinned when I came up to him. "Hey, we've been waiting for you, y'know, Link. Yesterday was soooo much fun! Yeah, chasing that monkey was great! I was just telling Malo here about how we wanted to show it to him, but we let it go instead!"

"Oh, YOU didn't get caught, Talo?" Malo muttered.

"Oh! Colin!" Talo then noticed Colin for the first time. "Way to spoil everything by telling your dad. Nice job."

"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Malo agreed. "We got scolded by our dad something awful. I thought it was never gonna end..."

Talo scoffed. "I bet you're trying to go see Ilia, aren't you? Well, there's no way I'm gonna let you pass!" Then he turned to me. "Oh, hey, neat! Link! Lemme borrow that wooden sword! If I'd had that wooden sword yesterday, I could've handled it all alone, definitely! C'mon! Let me borrow that wooden sword right now!"

I never liked disappointing the children, but I definitely didn't appreciate how mean they were to Colin. But then I figured that if I loaned him the wooden sword, he'd be distracted and playing with it, allowing Colin and me to pass so I could get to the spring.

So, I took the sword and handed it to Talo with a nod.

"Whoa. YESSS!" Talo cheered happily. "With this thing... I'll show 'em!"

He ran off to go practice with the sword near the scarecrow with Malo following after him.

"Link." Colin said, snapping me out of my thoughts as I turned to look at him. "Thanks...Those guys are always teasing me... What's so fun about swinging something like that around, anyway? I hate it...It's scary... But when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you, Link! I don't want to learn about swords or anything, but could you teach me to ride a horse sometime? Can you?! You have to promise!"

He turned and headed off down the path to the spring. I glanced at Talo as he practiced with the sword, and then went after Colin.

I had a feeling Colin was already at the spring by the time I'd catch up with him. And then I remembered how angry Ilia was, and figured she would have probably closed and locked the gate leading to the spring.

There was a small little tunnel crawlspace that led to the spring, so I figured to take that little route in order to get there.

I entered the tunnel and crawled through, turning a small corner and then coming out on the other side. I dusted off my clothes as I stood, and came to see Colin and Ilia talking.

"I had no idea...I hadn't heard the details of Talo's capture..." Ilia was saying. Colin was probably telling her about how I'd gone after Talo and brought him back home. "But, Colin..."

Ilia turned to see me, and then went toward Epona, who snorted and shook her head as if to tell her no. This made Ilia gasp, and she realized what Epona was trying to tell her.

"So you still prefer your master over me, huh, Epona?" Ilia said softly, then looked at me. "Don't worry about your horse, Link. Fortunately, it looks like the injury isn't too serious. You two can go on together. But, Link... Can you at least promise me this? No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything...out of your league. Please. Just come home safely." She turned to me and smiled sweetly.

I was pretty surprised at this, but I nodded and smiled back. Of course I would make sure to do what I was supposed to, and not go to any extreme. Everything would be just fine.

Suddenly, I heard the pounding of hooves coming toward here. I gasped and turned to the gate, wondering what was going on. Epona whinnied in surprise, having apparently heard it too.

A strange cry filled the air and a large, over-sized boar with strange green monsters riding it came crashing through the gate. Ilia and Colin gasped and tried to make a run for it. One of the green monsters shot an arrow at Ilia, hitting her in the back and causing her to fall into the water, unconscious.

I cried out and tried to rush to her aid, but I didn't see one of the monsters bring their club down on my head and making me fall to the ground, also blacking out from unconsciousness. I then lay there in the water, dazed and unaware of what was going on.

--

After a couple of minutes, I finally came to, opening my eyes. I sat up, rubbing my head. It hurt after the blow, but where was...

I gasped when I realized that Colin, Ilia and Epona weren't there. I hurriedly stood and looked around, they were nowhere in sight.

That meant that those green monsters had kidnapped them!

Angered and worried, I ran out from the gate and across the bridge to Faron Woods. It was obvious they had gone there, no way they would've gone back to the village.

As I got across the bridge, there was something wrong. The lighting was weird, and I had a bad feeling about this.

I then came to a stop at what I saw, letting out a cry.

There was a large black wall blocking my path. It rose up high, finishing with a golden colour. On the wall were strange, foreign markings I'd never seen before. What was this!? It wasn't here before! What was going on?!

Before I had time to do anything, a large black hand shot out from the wall and grabbed me, pulling me inside. I screamed as this happened, feeling myself be dragged beyond the strange wall.

I then caught sight of my captor, it was a strange, skinny black monster with a weird mask-like face and red markings along its body. It held me in a strong hold as I struggled to escape. It was futile, the monster was too strong.

Suddenly, the mark on the back of my hand started to pulsate, glowing brightly. It became brighter and the monster shielded its eyes, tossing me aside.

I fell hard on the ground, and tried to pull myself up. On my knees, I suddenly felt immense pain coursing through me. I moaned in pain, trying to fight it off and stand, but no avail. The mark on my hand continued glowing, and then the weird lighting itself was pulsing too as I exhaled.

Then I screamed loudly, my body began to change shape and I could almost see it t too. Fur replaced my skin, I sprouted a tail, and my face lengthened. I was a wolf. I then fell to the ground, unconscious.

In my unconscious state, I was dragged away by that strange monster that grabbed me earlier.

And there was something nearby, watching all this...


	4. Hyrule Castle Sewers

Yay! We get to meet Midna now! :D

--~~--

I didn't know how long I'd been out by the time I came to. Was it all a dream? What had happened?

As I stood, opening my eyes, I regained myself and suddenly noticed there was a shackle attached to my left forepaw.

Wait, paw?!

I let out a gasp as close to a wolf's gasp, looking down at my paws in horror. It wasn't a dream after all, I really was a wolf.

But how? It's physically impossible for a human to transform into a wolf! Ever since those weird monsters came and kidnapped Ilia and Colin, strange things have been happening.

Oh no! Ilia and Colin were still out there! Here I was trapped in a cell, and my friends were in danger! What if those monsters also kidnapped the other kids? Where was I? Where were they?

All I knew was that I was locked in a cell, and I couldn't escape.

I had to hurry and get out of here. I had to find my friends!

I gnawed at the chain that shackled my left leg. It wasn't coming apart, even with my new stronger wolf teeth.

Suddenly, I sensed a presence and heard a small sound. My ears perked and I looked toward the back of the cell, tensed.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw someone, or something standing there.

It was a small creature, no more than about 2 feet tall. It wore a strange helmet with odd markings and two pointed ends, with one side covering their left eye. The creature's eye was red and yellow. Their skin was black and blue-white, with strange aqua markings along their legs, arms, and ears, with firery orange-red hair in a ponytail.

I believe it was a mythical creature known as an imp.

The imp grinned at me, with one fang in their mouth, and leaped into the air. I followed its movements and it landed in front of the bars of the cell.

"I found you!" The imp proclaimed, grinning at me. I guessed the imp was female, given that it had a high pitched voice, and had small breasts and round hips.

Being a wolf, I couldn't speak, but I had to try to scare her away somehow. So I raised my haunches and growled.

"Ooh, aren't you scary!" The imp said, amused and not the least bit intimidated. She faced me, crossing her long, tiny arms. "Ee hee! Are you sure you want to be doing that? Snarling and glaring at me? Well, that's too bad... I was planning on helping you...if you were nice."

She was here to help me? I stopped growling and stood straight, at least as much as wolf could on all fours. I stared at her, listening to what she had to say.

"Ee hee! That's much better! You humans are obedient to a fault, aren't you?"

The imp came over to me and tapped my chin with her finger. "Oops! But you AREN'T human anymore, are you? You're a beast! Ee hee!"

I didn't appreciate being reminded or teased of that, or being tapped on the chin like this. I snapped my jaws at her, but the shackle prevented me from going far, and the imp jumped backwards out of the way.

"There, there." The imp said, having spread her arms wide. "You be a good boy and calm down. No need to bite!"

Then the imp brought her hands before her, creating a black ball with swirling red magic between her hands. She tossed it toward me, and it snapped the chain. The shackle still remained around my wrist, but I was free. Wow! Amazing!

I barely had time to react when the imp came up in my face, grinning.

"You look kind of surprised! Ee hee hee!"

The imp giggled and floated back toward the bars, where she transformed herself into bubbles, floating through to the other side of the cell bars. I watched in amazement, having never seen this kind of magic before.

"So! I bet you're wondering, where exactly are we?!"

Yes, I was wondering where exactly we were. Wait! How was I going to get out now? She could get in and out just fine, but what about me?

"Well, I'll make you a deal." The imp continued, grinning. "If you can get over here, maybe I'll tell you! Ee hee!"

The imp beckoned me, and then yawned. That obviously meant I would take a while in finding a way out. Great. I had to get out of here and save my friends, and I was now under the mercy of an imp who was taking advantage of me in my current state!

It's official, I don't like that imp at all. Well, at least she was helping me out of here.

I still didn't know how to get out!

Oh well, no choice but to try to get out of here myself.

I looked around the cell, and then at the imp. She was floating a few inches above the ground, waving her...hair?

Spotting some debris and boxes in the corner to my left, I inspected them for a moment. Hmm...

With no other option, I rushed at them and bashed my head into them, breaking them free from the space. Ow.

I saw a hole in there, that could be dug through.

Well, that was very smart, putting a digging animal in a cell where there was a soft spot to dig through. I may not be used to my new animal body, but I did know how to dig.

I went over to the hole and dug through it, coming out on the other side of the cell. After I emerged completely, I shook the dust off my body.

I heard the imp giggling, but she was nowhere to be seen! I figured she was above me, given the echo of her giggle.

Suddenly, I felt a weight drop onto my back. I let out a growl and bark, running around in circles to try to throw the imp off of me. What was she doing, riding on my back?! I don't remember that being part of our deal!

"Hmph! I guess you're not completely stupid after all!" The imp stated, not falling off my back.

I stopped running around and fell on my stomach. Well of course I wasn't stupid, I was a human with a human brain trapped in a wolf's body.

The imp patted me on the back, and then lay on her stomach on my back.

"Listen, I like you, so I think I'll get you out of here." The imp then tugged back on my ear, as a way to tell me that I HAD to listen. "But in exchange for my help, you have to do EXACTLY as I say! If you need anything from me, just give me a sign! So, are we all clear? Good. Now, come on! Get moving!"

She nudged her heels into my ribs, like how a human would when on horseback. I barked out and stood.

I wandered around the room, looking for a way out. The big metal door was obviously locked. And even if it wasn't I didn't have hands to open it. There was another cell next to mine, so I went over to it. It was empty, but the door was unlocked. I poked the door with my nose and went inside.

There was nothing in there, but then I noticed a barred crawlspace on the wall. Near it hanging from the ceiling was a chain. I stared at it for a few moments. Maybe it was a lever to open the bars?

Giving it a try, I leaped up, grabbed the chain with my teeth, and tugged it down. Sure enough, the bars lifted up. I went through the tunnel. If I had been in my human form, I probably would've had to crawl on my knees.

I went through the fairly lengthy tunnel, and came out to some kind of underground sewer. It still gave no indication of where we were, but we were obviously under some kind of a village or something, if this was the waterway.

Near the wall ahead of me, I noticed a weird-looking blue-ish flame. It was floating a couple of feet above the ground. I stared at it, wondering what it was.

The imp must've sensed my curiosity, so she began to speak.

"Oh... Well, well... Ee hee hee! Want to see something interesting? You're a beast, remember? Hone your senses and poke around!"

Hone my senses? How was I supposed to do that? Oh well, may as well give it a try.

I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating. Then I opened them and felt my senses heightened. The blue flame was actually a person! It looked like a soldier or some sort of protective figure. Apparently a male, he had a spear and a coat of armor. The man was mumbling about something having run away and hearing noises.

What was going on? I didn't understand this at all.

I walked away from the weird flame-person thing in case he'd see me and attack. Then I looked back at it. What was that?

"That was a soldier's spirit." The imp answered for me, as if reading my mind. "Maybe it's someone from the other world? Ee hee!"

Spirit? Other world? Nothing was making sense! What was the imp talking about? I tried to look at her, but even as a wolf, it was almost impossible to see your back.

"There are lots of other spirits roaming about here, you know." The imp continued. "Hone your senses to see them. They might know things..."

Well. So somehow we were communicating with spirits? I still didn't understand why they were spirits or what was going on, and most of all, where we were.

With no other option, I ran down the canal edge. I'd leap over a gap, and the imp on my back would shout "Oh!", grabbing harder onto my fur and holding on. Heh heh, I had to admit, that was kind of funny, making her panic just a little.

I wandered around, going through another barred door. I noticed weird-looking spider things lurking about. They were creepy and disgusting, and one of them leaped at me.

I yelped out and ran off from it, and the imp stopped me.

"I doubt you're used to your new body yet, so I'll just tell you... Think about how you fought enemies in your human form... Just because your shape has changed, doesn't mean your instincts have as well!"

True. I did still have my human brain, so that was easy enough to know.

I continued along the waterway, not sure where to go next. I could see there was nowhere else to go around here.

To my left, I noticed some spikes on the ground. I stared at them, wary about crossing. There was no way I could cross them without damaging myself. But we needed to get across. If only the water level was higher...

That's it!

Behind us, I noticed a chain hanging near a door that lifted up. Maybe, just maybe...

We went over to the chain, and I leaped up, grabbing it with my teeth and pulling it down. Sure enough, the door raised and the water came gushing out. Now we were able to swim in the water across the spikes without fear of damage.

We swam across and turned a few corners, looking where to go next. But when we came to large bars, I noticed stairs on the other side that we could climb. The imp floated off my back and passed through the bars, using her bubbles.

"This way! Over here! I'll be waiting for you, but you'll have to help yourself out for a change!"

I glared at her, but decided not to press the issue. I looked around, and noticed a small hole to the right next to the bars. I couldn't get down to it because of the water.

Then I knew what to do.

I went in the opposite direction and saw another chain with another lifting door. This would probably lower the water level, right?

So I leaped up and grabbed that chain. Sure enough, the door lifted and the water drained out.

I ran back the other way to where the bars were. I squeezed through the crawlspace, noticed a spirit hiding in there, and then continued on.

When I came out, the imp dropped onto my back. Great, just when I was getting relieved of her not being on my back.

"Ee hee! Awww, did the detour tire you out, little wolf? By the way... Are you honing your senses like you should? It looks like the spirits in here... They're all soldiers. Where in the world could we be? Ee hee!"

Was she just stating the obvious, or hinting where we were? Well, it didn't help. We could've been ANYWHERE. Knowing there are soldiers wandering around in the sewers weren't helping.

The imp tapped her heel against my ribs. "You want to get out of here, right? OK! We're off!"

I snorted and then went to where the stairs were. They rounded and led the way to an upper level, obviously a way out.

I ran up the stairs, and came to a gap. No problem, I could jump the gap.

Leaping over the gap, I stopped on the next broken step, but it crumbled under our weight and we fell into the water below.

"Ugh... What are you doing?" The imp muttered in disgust.

Give me a break! How was I supposed to know that the steps would give away?

I ran back up the stairs and came to the gap again. I stared at it warily. It was too far for me to jump across. How were we going to get up there?

Sensing my doubt, the imp spoke. "I guess I have to do EVYERYTHING for you... Look, I'll show you all the small ledges, so just jump to where I am!"

She floated over to the step, turning back to me. How was I supposed to jump this?!

Taking a breath, I stepped back and leaped to her. I landed on the step, the imp floated to the next, and I leaped there too. She landed on my back and we continued up the stairs.

She had to help me out over a couple of other ledges, and too-high spots.

There were a couple of tightropes too. I hesitated before crossing one, but then carefully walked across it. It was a wonder I didn't fall, since wolves were not made to cross tightropes.

The imp helped me across a couple of other ledges, and finally, we made it to the top.

There was a door that was closed, a few boxes...and was that another door up above this one? Why was there a door all the way up there?

There were a couple of bats flying around, so I took care of them and then wondered what we could do to get up to that open door.

I went over to where the boxes were, standing on a small ledge.

"So..." The imp said. "You know where we are yet? Ee hee!"

No. Can't you please tell me?

"Well...if you go up to the top, you might figure it out!"

With that, she led me up the ledges to where the door was, and we went through. Freedom!

But I still didn't know where we were.

--

When we came outside, I saw that we were on some kind of rooftop to a castle. It was raining, and there was that strange light that I saw back in Faron Woods. A few towers were raised around us, there were black birds flying around, and I couldn't even see the ground. The weird lighting made it hard to see down below, or very far up ahead.

Okay, so we were in some kind of castle waterway. But what castle was this? Where were we?

"So, we were finally able to get out." The imp said, stretching her arms. "And look at the sky! Isn't the black cloud of twilight looking beautiful today? Do you know where this is? You STILL don't know? Ee hee hee! Look, there's someone I want to introduce you to...but I'll need you to go to that tower to do it!"

Maybe the person she wanted to introduce me to would enlighten me more on the subject. I leaped down to the rooftops and we were on our way.


	5. Hyrule Castle Rooftops

You know the part in the cut scene where you first meet Zelda, and when she kneels down before she says "...You were imprisoned?", if you look carefully at Midna, you can see her moving to stand! I never realized that! XD

Oh, and if you look at your shadow when you return to Ordon Spring, you can see Midna's shadow riding your back!

--~~--

I wasn't a stranger to the hour of twilight, the time when the day wasn't quite gone, but the night was just approaching.

But there was something different about this twilight, I could tell. The lighting itself was twilight, but the dark clouds and golden sky were just unnerving. Not just that, but there were strange black particles that rose from any surface, as though evaporating.

On the other hand, I had to agree with the imp. It was beautiful. A very serene, calm beauty. Even more so than the regular hour of twilight.

We went along the rooftops of this castle we were at. I still didn't know where we were, or what this castle was.

There was another spirit up ahead of us, it was another solider like the ones from the waterway down below. How did he get up here?

The imp then told me that he couldn't see me. I was skeptical about that, but went over to listen to what he was saying. He was talking about monstrous birds, and then what he said last caught my ears, "Oh our poor Hyrule Castle..."

So we were in Hyrule Castle! This was where I was supposed to go and deliver that sword Rusl crafted for Princess Zelda. I couldn't believe it, we were here!

But why did the monster drag me here and not with Colin and Ilia, and even the rest of the kids? Or why didn't they leave them with me? Come to think of it, why did they leave me there in the spring? Was it part of their plan?

Or were they stupid?

I was interrupted by the imp telling me that the guard wasn't who she wanted me to meet, and directed me to the tower she pointed at.

There were a few of the monstrous birds that the guard mentioned, but I ignored them and went past them. No, I needed my energy for whatever was to come. I had a bad feeling about this.

I'll help this imp, whatever she needs me to help her with. It's in my nature to help people, and I always will. Besides, she might let me go after we're done.

We made it further to the rooftops, with the tower the imp indicated right ahead of us. I nearly lost my footing and slid down a few times, since I wasn't used to walking on narrow rooftops, but luckily there was wooden scaffolding and I was able to make my way back up.

There were a few more of those monstrous birds, but we managed to get past them.

I climbed up the ledge and went into the window of the tower.

We came to a set of stairs. At the top, there was a door that was slightly ajar. Letting my curiosity getting the better of me, I went over to it, poked it open with my nose, and went inside.

There was a cloaked figure standing at the window of the room, looking out the window. Someone was waiting to ambush us!

I raised my haunches and growled, tensing. I heard the imp giggle from my back, but I ignored her.

The cloaked figure turned around, letting out a gasp when they heard me growling.

I stopped growling and looked at the figure for a moment. Assuming it was a woman, she was genuinely surprised to see us and said nothing that indicated she was the enemy, waiting for us.

We went over to her, and she looked at the imp riding on my back.

"...Midna?!"

Midna? Was the imp's name? Interesting name, it was kind of cute. Well, at least I knew her name now and didn't have to call her "imp". I would've introduced myself if I could talk.

I looked at Midna over my shoulder, but she ignored me, smirking at the cloaked woman.

"Ee hee! You remembered my name? What an honour for me..."

I looked back at the woman as she studied me.

"So this is the one for whom you were searching..."

"He's not exactly what I had in mind, but...I guess he'll do." Midna answered thoughtfully, raising her hand to her chin and then nodded.

I didn't like being treated like a tool, but none the less, I ignored her comment.

The woman knelt down before me, noticing the shackle around my wrist. I felt Midna move to stand on my back.

"...You were imprisoned?" The woman asked me. She looked away a bit, concealing her face more behind her hood. "I am sorry."

I didn't understand why she was feeling guilty. She didn't do anything to me, why be sorry? Well, she probably felt bad for me. I didn't blame her, I'd feel the same way.

"Poor thing, he has no idea where this is or what's happened... So, don't you think you should explain to him what you've managed to do? You owe him that much... Twilight Princess! Ee hee!" Midna suddenly said, giggling.

So there was something more to all this, wasn't there? And why did she call her Twilight Princess? Well, at least someone was going to enlighten me about everything.

The woman looked down at the floor and was silent for a few moments. I could tell she was feeling guilty about something, but she knew that Midna was right.

She looked at us again.

"Listen carefully... This was once the land where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This once the kingdom of Hyrule. But that blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight... It has been turned into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light."

She then told us a story of how Princess Zelda was confronted by strange shadow beasts in her throne room. They'd attacked her guards, and then in came the king of the twilight. He told her that he would spare the people of Hyrule of she surrendered. Princess Zelda had surrendered, knowing that she was no match for him.

"Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight, they live on, unaware that they have passed into spirit forms. All the people know now is fear... Fear of a nameless evil..."

The woman stood back up, turning to the window. She was silent for a few moments before she turned back to us and continued.

"The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I still remain its princess..."

She then raised her gloved hands to pull down her hood. I arched up a bit to get a better look at her, while Midna, not expecting this change in position, let out a cry of surprise and nearly fell off my back. But she regained herself.

"I am Zelda." The woman concluded dramatically once she had pulled her hood down completely, revealing herself.

I'd never seen Princess Zelda in person before, and I had to admit that she was a lovely woman. She had dirty blonde hair that was close to brown, blue eyes, wore earrings, and had a regal tiara on her forehead.

"You don't have to look so sad!" Midna said after a moment of silence. "We actually find it quite livable! I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?" She smiled, bringing her arms behind her head.

"Midna, this is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you. Why is this?"

Midna jumped off my back and floated in the air, facing away from Zelda.

"Why indeed? You tell me! Ee hee hee!" Midna replied.

Well, she obviously knew why. But she didn't want to reveal it for whatever reason. I was curious myself, and wondered what Princess Zelda meant by that.

Zelda ignored her and faced me.

"Time has grown short. The guard will soon make his rounds. You must leave here quickly."

At this, Midna plopped herself onto my back, roughly. I let out a growl of surprise and nearly fell on my stomach, but I regained myself. We looked over our shoulders at the door, as if expecting to see this guard the Princess mentioned.

We looked back at her, and then turned around to exit the room. It was likely the guard would be able to see us, and she obviously didn't want to cause any trouble by having the guard see us in there with her.

I ran down the stairs, but then Midna suddenly tugged on my ear, stopping me. She leaned over me on her stomach, listening as we heard the door at the bottom of the stairs suddenly open.

"Not that way! The guard's coming! Boy, he's prompt!"

Midna straightened herself, looking for a way to get out without being seen. She then spotted the window we came in through.

So we leaped up to the window and went back outside.

Midna floated out ahead of me as I came outside, looking around at the twilight atmosphere. She came to a stop at the end of the rooftop below us. I jumped down and slowly walked over to her.

"Ee hee hee! Well? Do you understand where we are now?"

Yes Midna, I do. We're at Hyrule Castle, and far away from my village. This is where I was supposed to come, but now thanks to this, I think something else is going to happen in its place.

"I guess a promise is a promise, so I'll let you back to where you first stumbled into the twilight..." Midna continued. "But...are you really sure you should be going back? Are you sure you aren't forgetting something important?"

Probably through some illusionary technique, Midna retained the forms of Colin and then Ilia, having both of them screaming.

I gasped. Of course! They were still out there somewhere and I had to go find them and save them! I'd been distracted by getting out of that cell, making my along the Hyrule Castle rooftops and meeting Princess Zelda, that I nearly forgot about them.

"Ee hee! Do you want to save them?" Midna asked me, still pertaining the form of Ilia. She fluffed her hair and smirked lightly, probably trying to annoy me. "Well, in that case, little Midna would be happy to help you! But... Well, you'd have to be my servant...and like a servant, you'd have to do exactly as I say!"

Returning to her normal self, Midna placed her hands on her hips and smirked at me. "Why don't you go back, take a little time, and give it some thought. Ee hee hee!"

I felt a strange feeling course through me, and I opened my mouth in shock as my body suddenly dematerialized into the black particles rising from the twilight surfaces, disappearing into the sky above.

--

Almost instantaneously, I found myself back in Ordon Spring. The twilight hadn't surrounded here, so it was still safe.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention one thing..." I heard Midna say.

I looked over my shoulder, but didn't see her riding my back. What the? How come I can hear her, but I can't see her?

I walked around in circles, trying to find her as she continued speaking.

"Though you may have left the darkened realm, you haven't transformed back to your former self...and you won't anytime soon! Now why could that be? Ee hee hee! See you later!"


	6. Sword and Shield

Still wondering where Midna was, I decided to go on back to my village. I had to see what happened to the rest of the children, maybe get some leads on where they were taken.

I had to find them and save them, and I had to do it now. I wasted enough time.

As I came to the entrance leading out from the spring, I heard Midna speak again. Instinctively, I looked at my back. She still wasn't there.

"So, um, what next?"

Suddenly, I saw my shadow leave me and Midna popped up in front of me. She was a shadow! She retained her shape, and her right eye was the only thing standing out.

"Ee hee hee! Did you think I'd disappeared? Listen, there's another thing I forgot to tell you... Don't think can just run off and save your friends, because you can't. Just beyond that bridge, the land is covered in twilight. Last time, a shadow beast pulled you through the curtain of twilight... But if you want to go that way this time, you'll need the cooperation of someone FROM the twilight...like me! So you really have no choice but to do what I say."

Great. That was a bribe if I ever heard one. Cooperate with Midna or I can never save my friends.

Well, she did have a point, of course. Since she was from the twilight, as she said, I'd need her guidance if I was ever going to get through it and save my friends.

"Saving your friends and all that..." Midna continued. "Well, that'll depend on your actions... Because you can never trust words, you know. Right now, I want a sword and a shield that'll suit me. You do understand me, don't you? Ee hee hee! So, what do you plan to do? While you're here dawdling, the twilight continues to expand. Come on! Hurry it up!"

Midna disappeared below me, probably in my shadow or something. So I went off to get back to the village.

She was out of luck, since our village was tiny, and not exactly holding a lot of swords and shields up for grabs. Then again, I distinctly recall Jaggle mentioning that he was building a shield, and the gift we were supposed to present to the royal family was a sword that Rusl crafted. Well, so we were in luck.

But, I didn't know where to find them, or how to get them. I couldn't ask anyone since I was a wolf, and I hardly think they'll recognize me.

We came up to a couple of those green monsters that kidnapped the kids by my house. So I managed to take care of them, sinking my teeth into their throats and lashing them until they exploded into nothing.

Just as we were going into the village, a voice called out to us.

"Wait!"

I raised my haunches and growled, not turning around. I heard Midna sighing in the shadows about how stupid I was with "growl first, ask questions later".

Sitting on the doorstep of my house was a chipmunk. And it was talking to me. Whoa! How can I understand it?

"I don't know what you've come here to do, but if you're going into town, be careful! THEY came and made both the forest and village a mess... They kidnapped the children from the village..."

What?! So they DID get the rest of the kids! Where are they? Do you know where they are?! I have to find them! What if they're hurt? Or worse?

"But you're different...you're not a bad thing, are you?" The chipmunk continued. "I can tell, because you smell like the trees of Ordon... If you run into any trouble, try talking to the animals in town. We animals understand one another, so you'll be fine!" He them scampered off.

Well, at least I had some helpful guidance now. Maybe the animals could give me some leads as to where those monsters took the kids. I just hope no one else was hurt either.

We went into the village as nightfall descended. It was so quiet, much more quiet than usual.

Hanch was on top of the plateau that Jaggle usually perched on. He was looking up at the sky mournfully.

"Ohhh... How did it come to this? The children... Please say nothing's happened... Please forgive you're good-for-nothing father..."

I felt pretty bad for him. Although he was a good guy, he was...well, kind of useless and lazy a lot of the time.

We went around the village, careful to keep out of sight. I then noticed Mayor Bo and Jaggle outside Jaggle's house talking. I couldn't make it out, so we approached and listened.

"Oh! About the shield..."

"Hey! Not so loud!"

They started speaking in whispers. Even with my heightened hearing, I couldn't hear them well.

Jaggle and Pergie's puppy was dozing outside the front door and he noticed us. He then explained that we could find things in soft spots by digging, and to let him know if Jaggle and Bo were talking about food.

We approached, and I hid in the tall grass to listen.

"So, that shield is still in your house, right?" Mayor Bo asked.

"Uh, yeah, it should still be in our storage loft." Jagged replied, nodding.

"Good! Go grab it, as quick as you can! Rusl got wounded pretty bad, so he can't go search for the kids. I'll take over for him."

Rusl was hurt? That could only mean he went out there and was attacked by those shadow beasts that Zelda mentioned. Well if HE couldn't do it, what made Bo think he could?

Apparently, Jaggle was thinking the same thing.

"But Rusl had a sword, Mayor! And he STILL got hurt! If you're unarmed, you're done for!

"I'll be fine." Bo insisted. "The sword we were goin' to present to the royal family should still be at Rusl's house."

"Oh yeah? All right, I understand, Mayor. I'll hurry up and get that shield. You just wait here..."

Suddenly, they turned around and saw me. Mayor Bo gasped.

"No good! Run!"

They both ran off. Oh come on, I wasn't going to attack! Well, they didn't know that, I know.

Midna then popped out of the shadows, looking up at the house. I followed her gaze and noticed that the skylight window was open.

"That's not a bad bit of information you heard, huh? Ugh...look at that open window. This village is full of idiots."

I glared at her as she said that. I didn't like my friends, pretty much my only family, being insulted like that. It wasn't their fault!

Midna ignored me and continued, her gaze drifting over to the water wheel on the side of Jaggle's house. "So... We should jump up there...but from where?"

The waterwheel? Oh, wait, she meant the hub of the waterwheel. Yes, we could use that, but she was right...from where?

I came back around, and looked over at the plateaus. We could use those to get up there. But we wouldn't be able to get by Hanch without him seeing us.

While I wandered around looking for some clues, a torch lit and I heard Hanch yell.

"Mon-MONSTER!"

A monster?! Where?!

I looked at him and realized he was talking about me.

"You've come back for more, haven't you?! My... My daughter... Return her! And TAKE THIS!"

Hanch blew a blew of Hawk grass, and the hawk came flying down, perching on his outstretched arm. The hawk came flying at us, but I managed to slip away pretty fast and avoid it.

Sera's cat, who was outside the shop, told us that we were no match against the hawk. So much for that.

We went around to the side of the shop onto a rock, and Midna popped out of the shadows.

"C'mon, let's get up on the roof from here and scare that guy. Look at him...posing like he's all important... Wait until he sees us! Ee hee hee!"

I didn't appreciate her talking about Hanch like that, but I did have to agree that our only way past him was to scare him. Lucky for us, he was a wimp, so it wouldn't be hard.

Midna helped me leap up onto the roof, and we crossed over to where Hanch was. He turned around and jumped up, the hawk flying away. Wow, I didn't even need to growl!

"WHOA!" He screamed, and jumped into the water.

With him out of the way, Midna went to the waterwheel hub, and I leaped to where she was, and then up on the roof of Jaggle's house. We went in through the skylight window, landing on the top bunk bed.

I leaped down, landing on the table, near the storage loft. Midna popped out of the shadows, looking up there.

"Ee hee! Found it! Found it!"

I followed her gaze, and saw an Ordon Shield hanging on the wall. Perfect, now we just had to get up there and get it down.

Midna helped me up to the loft, and I went over where the shield hung, looking up at it.

How was I going to get it down? Even in my human form, it would be too high for me to reach.

With no other option, I bashed into the wall a couple of times to jiggle it. Sure enough, it fell to the floor. I picked it up with my teeth and scooped it onto my back.

Midna popped out of the shadows, studying the shield.

"It looks...kind of cheap... All right, then... Next is a sword. Hurry up and get one!" Midna disappeared back in the shadows.

What do you mean hurry up and get one? There's only one! Oh, Rusl had one, but there was no way I could take his without getting damaged. Well, Mayor Bo did say that the sword was at Rusl's house, so I guess we had to go there.

I climbed out the nearby window and landed in the water.

It must've caught attention because I heard Rusl off nearby.

"What was that sound?! The children could not have returned...could they?"

"Give me a break!" I heard Midna mutter from the shadows. "If the children came back, wouldn't they run back to their families instead of going for a swim?"

(That was a line from Ferngirl's fanfiction _From The Eyes of the Twilight Princess_.)

Well, Midna did have a point.

We perked and heard Rusl continue speaking.

"I must go out and search one last time. You get inside the house. I have placed the sword was to be our gift to Hyrule on the couch. If the mayor comes for it, please give it to him."

"But, darling...your injuries!" I heard Uli plead.

Okay, so now we just had to find a way inside without them seeing us.

We swam back to shore, kept out of sight of Rusl, who was limping around the village with lit torch.

Going to the side of the house, I noticed a hole that I could probably dig in to get inside.

I dug through the hall, shutting my eyes so that I would get any dirt in my face, and came out on the other side inside the house. Sure enough, the Ordon sword was sitting on the couch, just like Rusl said.

I went over and picked it up, scooping it onto my back with the shield.

Once I had it, Midna popped out of the shadows.

"All right... So now you have a sword. Looks like you can actually be useful when you concentrate! All right... No more detours. I'm going to take you back into the twilight. Go back to the woods where you first transformed into that shape!"

Midna disappeared into the shadows, and I went and dug myself out of the house.

Rusl was still wandering around the village, very slowly. Luckily, we managed to keep in the shadows and out of sight as we made our way out of the village.

--

As we approached the bridge, a voice called out to us.

"Wait... Come...to my spring..."

Midna mumbled under her breath about how now seemed like a good idea to growl, but I ignored her and ran to the spring. Could it have been the legendary spirit of Light?

We got into the water as the voice spoke again.

"You have...been transformed...by the power...of shadow... Come...to me..."

I sniffed around, trying to locate the voice. Suddenly, dark pillars with red markings landed around the spring, surrounding me. I tensed, raising my haunches and growling. Was this a trap?!

"Beware...A shadow being... It approaches..."

A strange-looking shape with a swirling hole appeared above us, the same red markings along it. A strange black monster like the one that had pulled be into the curtain of twilight fell out of the hole, landing before me in the spring. The weird swirling hole shape disappeared.

I immediately leaped into action, latching onto it and sinking my teeth into its throat. The shadow monster thrashed and tried to throw me off. I went in again and finished it off. It dissolved into black squares, and then rose up above us, creating the same shape with the swirling hole, except the markings were blue instead of red.

Once I relaxed, the spring darkened, but then the water and the rocks suddenly began to light up. A swirling, golden orb of light slowly rose from the water. I watched it as it rose high above the water.

The light seemed to create a shape, which then looked like a goat, with its round horns encircling the light orb. Its entire body seemed to be made of light, and yet it didn't hurt to look directly at it.

"O brave youth..." It spoke. "I am one of the four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the gods. I am Ordona. The black beast you slayed was a shadow being. It had come to seize the power of light I wield."

It paused for a moment before continuing.

"My brethren in Hyrule have already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. The entire Kingdom of Hyrule has been reduced to a netherworld ruled by the cursed powers of darkness. The blight will not stop in Hyrule. Before long, the entire world of light will fall into the hands of the king who rules the twilight."

I couldn't believe it. So this king of twilight was out to shroud Hyrule and the rest of the world in twilight? How are we going to stop him? Is there anything that can be done?

"To save this land from the king of twilight, the lost light must be recovered." Ordona went on. "The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There is but one who can revive them and redeem this land... You."

Me? But I'm just a farm boy, how am I able to help? I can't say I don't want to help, because I do, but how can I do it? There's no way I could possibly manage it!

"You still have not discovered your true power... Those transformed by twilight usually cannot recover their original forms... Unless... If you were to return to Faron Woods where you were first transformed... If you were to revive the light spirit... There, by the power of the light spirit, you may find the means to regain your other state of being..."

Ordona then disappeared, its light fading away. The spring was back to normal, as if it had not been there.

Well, so the only way I could be human again is if I go to Faron Woods and revive the Light Spirit. I didn't have any other options, so I hurried out of the spring and across the bridge to get to Faron Woods.

I still didn't know where the kids were, and as much as I wanted to be human again, I wanted to know where they were first. But it looked like no one was giving me any leads. Great.

We approached the wall of twilight. I looked around a bit nervously, and noticed the strange markings appear on the large, black wall. Stopping near, Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Hey... Look... The Faron Woods that you know so well... They're now covered in twilight. You might not be able to come back here, but... Do you still want to go?"

I nodded.

Midna turned and floated through the wall, creating a ripple. Suddenly, a large orange hand shot out from the wall, grabbed me, and pulled me inside.

--

We came into Faron Woods, surrounded by Twilight. Midna was in her solid form, and back on her old seat, on my back.

She took the sword and the shield, and had placed the shield on her face. I'd probably laugh if I could, since the shield was not supposed to go on your face. She must've assumed that the shield was used to protect your head.

"Hmm! So these are the weapons you use in your world?" Midna asked, taking the sword in her right hand. She swished it around, I had to duck my hand in order to avoid bring whacked by it. "You really think this thing can slay the creatures of twilight?"

I growled at her, how could she talk like that about Rusl's hard work, and how that sword as especially requested by Zelda. Besides, after all I did to get it, she's ungrateful! She was lucky I was even helping her at all.

My thoughts were interrupted when the shield landed landed on my face after she was tossing it aside. I could hear the sword strike the ground beside me.

"...Well, I won't use these, but I'll hang onto them for you!" Midna said. She snapped her fingers and the weapons disappeared, dissolving into black squares.

Okay, so at least she was holding on to them, probably so I could use them once I became human. No problem, I knew how to use a sword.

"All right, a promise is a promise... I trust you enough to help." Midna leaned on her stomach over to my ear. "In exchange for my help, though, I need you to gather some things for me. Look, I can't tell you all the details now, but it'll be easy, trust me..."

Why not? It'd be a bit easier if I knew what I was supposed to help gather and what we were up against! Well, I guess maybe Midna didn't trust me THAT much. Oh well.

"But enough about that." Midna went on, gesturing toward the path up ahead of us. Do you hear that noise? It's the lamentation of the spirit that had its light stolen."

Perplexed, I listened. Sure enough, off to where the spring was, I could hear a sad, sorrowful song ringing in the air.

"Where in the world could it be? Ee hee! Better get going, don't you think? Don't blame me for your world's fate if you don't hurry up and find that light!" Midna was now lying on my back, looking at her nails in a bored fashion, humming a tune. "Come on! Snap to it!"

I let out a wolf grumble and looked to the path ahead of us, ready to go.


	7. Faron Woods

Okay, I lied. I'm going to make Link talk sometimes. XD As much as I can play silent Link really well, I think it's necessary if I make him talk here and there. I'll especially make him talk to Midna most.

Oh, and like I said before, _Ocarina of Time_ Link (_Majora's Mask also_) really is _Twilight Princess_ Link's ancestor. It was confirmed on the Zelda version of Wikipedia, and it makes sense, no?

I'm still not sure about the Hero's Shade being the Hero of Time. But it's likely, right? I'll tell you why with what I found on the same site when they explained his character.

-His character name, Hero's Shade, is meaning that he was once a Hero and Shade basically means a ghost.

-His sword is a lot like the Gilded sword from _Majora's Mask_, only a different colour.

-Like Hero of Time Link, he's left-handed. (The Wii version of _Twilight Princess_ was mirrored because the Wii Remoite is meant for the right hand)

-He said he once took on the role of the hero.

-When he's moving to attack, he moves like Link did when targeting an enemy.

-Four of the songs on the Howl Stones are from _Ocarina of Time _and _Majora's Mask_ (Song of Healing, Prelude of Light, Requiem of Spirit and Zelda's Lullaby)

--

So now within the twilight-covered Faron Woods, we headed down the path to get to the spirit's spring.

As we got to the large clearing, the strange black pillars with the red markings came crashing down onto the ground, creating a barrier. I tensed, raising my haunches and growling.

The strange black void thing appeared above us, and three shadow beasts fell out of it and onto the ground. Okay, time to take care of these monsters and continue on.

The shadow monsters surrounded us, moving in as they were ready to attack us.

"Aww... We're penned again!" Midna complained from my back. "Pffffft! Who do they think they're dealing with? No need to take these little pests on one at a time, right? You can take them all at once!"

What did she mean take them all at once? How can I do that? Even a wolf to my understanding can't take on three of its prey at once!

"So... You can handle this by yourself, can't you? Good luck! 'Bye!" Midna floated off my back and went to wait for me nearby.

Midna! What are you doing?! I can't take them on by myself! Why are you leaving me here with them!?

I guess it was time to prove myself. I wasn't scared of these stupid monsters. I can take them on.

I leaped at the nearest one, sinking my teeth into its throat and lashing at it. Once that one was down, I went to the next one and did the same. Ha! I really can take them down myself, that's a relief.

But before I could get to the third one, it raised its head and let out a piercing, deafening screech. It was so loud and piercing that I was bent over on the ground, gritting my teeth.

To my horror, the other two monsters that I had previously taken down were getting up! The screech of the third one brought them back somehow! Now what was I going to do?! I'd have to be faster than a wolf in order to take them all down!

But I wasn't ready to give up.

I leaped at the monster nearest me and slashed at it with my teeth, knocking it down.

Just as I was going over to the other two, Midna suddenly plopped onto my back.

"What's the holdup?" She asked, sounding annoyed. "If you leave the last one alive, it's just going to use that shriek to bring the others back. Listen, let me help you out here! Just move like I tell you! You just hold down and I'll expand an energy field, so enclose all the enemies within it and release!"

I wasn't quite sure how that worked, but I decided to give it a try, since it seemed to be our only option.

We moved toward the other two monsters, and Midna raised her hair in the form of a hand high above us, and this black circular energy surrounded us. When I came to the two monsters, they were encased within it. Once I leaped toward them, I went at such a fast speed and managed to destroy them both practically at the same time.

They fell to the ground, and then dissolved into black squares, which dissolved up into the weird void up above us.

Once the barrier disappeared, we headed off to the spirit's spring. Above the water was a faint, golden mist. I stared at it for a second, and then approached it to see what it was. As I did, I heard a voice speak to us. It must've been the spirit, even with it's light stolen.

"...Please...be careful... These woods...have changed... The dark clouds of dusk cover this land... This drape of shadows is called...twilight." It had to pause often to gather enough strength to speak. "In this twilight, those who live in the light...become as mere spirits... It is a place...where the dark ones and evil creatures dwell... I...am a spirit...of light... Blue-eyed beast. Look...for my light... Retrieve the light stolen by the dark beasts...and keep it...in this vessel."

Something floated over to us, and I looked up to see what it was. It looked like a string of hollow grapes. Okay, so we had to gather the spirit's light with this, but how do we find it? How do we gather it? Where could we find it?

"In the shadows of twilight...the dark insects are as...invisible...as normal beings are here..." The fallen light spirit continued. "Let me use the last of my power...to reveal the locations of the dark insects...that consumed the light... Find...the insects of darkness... The dark insects... They are the form taken by evil...once it has latched on to...our scattered light..."

Okay, so now we had to go on a bug hunt. With the help of the light spirit's remaining power, we were able to sense where they were.

There were two bugs near us, over in the tunnel leading out further into Faron Woods. I had to use my senses in order to see them. With the help of Midna's dark energy, we managed to slash them both at once. The bugs exploded into nothing, and then formed into blue orbs of light, with dripping falling from them, almost like tears. When we touched one of them, the light washed over us and then nestled into one of the vessels. Then we collected the other one and continued on.

Another one had made its way under the gate to Faron Woods, but there were a few more at Coro's house. Two were inside, and there was one outside on the wall of the house.

We went around to the side of the house, and with Midna's dark energy field, we got it down and killed it, collecting the light.

Getting inside was tricky. We couldn't use the door, even if we didn't have to worry about Coro seeing us. He was probably inside.

Going around the house to look for an opening, we saw an open window.

"Hm... Looks like we can get in there!" Midna said.

She floated to the window sill, waiting for me. I leaped after her and we went inside as she returned to my back.

Inside the house, it was empty, even if it was a mess. Coro was cowering in the corner, shaking.

"Wh-What's with these bugs? Those things aren't normal! They're so big... So weird... Creepy... C'mon, get away bugs... Shoo... Get out of here..." He said, trembling.

At this, two bugs crawled out from behind us. We leaped into action and took care of them, gathering the tears of light.

Coro saw the bugs suddenly die, although he couldn't see that it was us who killed them.

"Wh-WHAAAT? They just...died? Oh, boy, I have NO idea what's going on around here..."

Poor thing, he was really scared. Don't worry though, we're going to clear the twilight of this area soon enough. Everything will be fine. Zelda was right, people really did know nothing but fear within this curtain of twilight. We definitely had to get rid of all of it.

Since we were done in here, we climbed up the shelving and made out way out through the window where we came in.

We went to the gate leading into Faron Woods, and couldn't find a way to get through. The gate was locked, and even if we did have a key, I wouldn't be able to unlock the padlock.

Midna then pointed out to a small hole in the fence that I could dig under. So I dug through it and emerged on the other side. There were two bugs here now, so we took care of them and gathered the light.

We went through the cave, and with the help of my senses, I managed to get us through and there were no bugs in here.

Once we came out from the cave, I saw a foul-looking purple hazy mist along the trees. Something told me that going in there with it was a bad idea. But we had to get across because there were bugs further out, and even with the haze on a tree.

Two bugs were near us on the wall of the cliffside. So we went over and got them down with Midna's energy field, killing them. Once we gathered the light orbs, I went over to the edge near where the haze began, wondering what we could do to get across.

I perched on a small ledge, looking around to see if there was maybe some kind of stepping stone method we could use, when Midna looked over to a branch poking out from above the haze.

"Hey... Think we can cross over there?"

Midna floated over to it, gesturing to a small ledge that the branch had. I leaped over to it, then to a small ledge next to a tree, and then back onto the ground across from where we started.

We made our way up a small hill, coming to two pillars standing up tall from the haze, leading to a large walk-through on the tree ahead of us. Midna helped me leap onto them and over to the tree where we continued on hunting for the bugs. A couple of keese were flying around, but we ignored them and went past them.

Three bugs were around on the ground of the tree, so we took care of them and collected the light.

We continued going along the tree, sensing more bugs up ahead. It took a while, with Midna helping me leap across a few gaps, and then up between two trees, over some branches while all the while trying to avoid the twilit deku babas trying to snap at us, then over another gap with a strange, swinging object that would likely knock us down if we were hit by it, then over a few more rocky plateaus, and finally back safely on the ground.

There were two bugs near us. With my senses, I could see that they were burrowed under the ground. So I followed after them and dug at the ground to get them out, and we took care of them, collecting the light orbs.

We went through the gate and came up to North Faron Woods, where we were ambushed by three shadow beasts. We took care of them and a new void-thing opened up above us.

Near us, propped against the cliffside, was a bridge. What was it doing here? There weren't any rivers or gaps that needed to be bridged, aside from the one leading from Faron Woods to Ordon. Oh well, I guess maybe we'll find out sometime later. It didnt matter.

A couple more bugs were up ahead, at the entrance of the strange, large tree trunk where I had rescued Talo and the monkey from earlier on. We ran up the pathway leading to it, and saw the spirit of the same monkey from before, cowering in fear on one of the plateaus.

We killed the bugs, just as the monkey noticed that they had died somehow, even if she couldn't see us.

"Someone... Someone helped me?" She looked around to make sure the bugs weren't anywhere to be seen, and sighed in relief. "Boy, lucky for me... Ever since the boss went funny in the head, there've been scary monsters everywhere... Those village kids got led through the woods for some reason... The whole forest is so weird now... What's happened?"

I wasn't sure what she meant by the boss, but somehow I could see that there was something beyond the spider web blocking the entrance. Poor monkey, even the animals of the forest were scared because of this twilight curtain and the monsters.

We collected the last two orbs of light, which filled the vessel. Once it was full, we suddenly found ourselves back at the spirit's spring.

The vessel of light floated out toward the spring, and then disappeared into the water. The twilight cleared away, and the light was brought back to Faron Woods.

Midna floated over to the water, in her shadowy form.

"Aww, but it was so nice here in the twilight...What's so great about a world of light, anyway? Ee hee hee! See you later!" She then disappeared.

Jeez, Midna. I can understand you're not used to the world of light, but that doesn't mean it's not so great. I do agree that the twilight looks beautiful, but it just didn't belong here in our world.

Well, at least we managed to save Faron from the twilight. It would surely slow down the king of the twilight. But I still didn't know where the kids were. Maybe the spirit would tell me where they were.

And what did Midna mean earlier, when she said I had to gather things for her? And if what Zelda said was true, about how people became spirits once they passed through the curtain of twilight, why did I become a wolf and not a spirit like the rest of them?

The water then lit up, as did the rocks surrounding it. The orb of light arose from the spring, rising up above the water. The light spirit appeared, taking the form of a monkey. Its hands held the light orb while it's extra long tail curled up and over its head.

It looked over at me, speaking with its golden voice.

"My name is Faron. I am one of the spirits of light who dwell in Hyrule. By the order of the gods, I protect this forest. O brave youth... In the land covered in twilight, where people roam as spirits, you were transformed into a blue-eyed beast... That was a sign... It was a sign that the powers of the chosen one rest within you...and they are awakening. Look at your awakened form..."

I was puzzled at this, but then suddenly took note of what I was wearing. Surprised, I looked down at my hand, which I saw was now wearing a gauntlet. I had a green tunic, brown boots, a white undershirt, white tights, chain mail underneath, and on my head was a funny shaped floppy green hat in the shape of a cone. I had a belt on around my waist and over my shoulder, which were supporting the Ordon sword and Ordon shield that I had on my back. I gasped, inspecting my new clothes and looking at my hands. What did this mean? How did I change clothes in the form of a wolf? Weren't these the clothes that the Hero of Time once wore?

"The green tunic that is your garb once belonged to the ancient hero chosen by the gods..." The spirit explained as I was looking at my new garb. "His power is now yours. His is the true power that slept within you. Your name is Link. You are the hero chosen by the gods."

Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked. Was I really the hero chosen by the gods?

Rusl was right. The Hero of Time was my ancient ancestor, and his power was passed on to me, which explained the mark of the Triforce on the back of my left hand. The Hero of Time bore the same mark on his left hand, as the legends spoke. It all made sense now.

I couldn't believe it. But it was true.

"Brave Link..." The spirit went on, snapping me from my reverie. "A dark power rests in the temple deep within these woods. It is a forbidden power. Long, long ago, I and the other spirits of light locked it away. Because of its nature, it is a power that should never be touched by any who dwell in the light. But this world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there is no choice... You must match the power of the king of shadows. If you would seek this forbidden power, then proceed to the temple in the forest depths."

The light spirit faded, and its bright light shone in sparkles and then was gone.

So there was a dark, forbidden power within a temple in the forest, where no light being could touch it, and yet I had to go and get it, in order to help match up to the power of the king of twilight?

...Is that what Midna meant when she said I had to gather some things for her?

I looked down at my left hand, my sword hand and the hand that bore the mark of the Triforce, the power of the Goddesses, it seemed. I knew what I had to do.

My ancestor once braved the dangers he faced in saving Hyrule, and now it was my turn, as his descendant, the now chosen hero, to do the same.

I came out of the spring and started to head toward the tunnel leading to Faron Woods, when Midna popped out of my shadow and hovered before me.

"Well, well... You're chosen hero and all that, huh? So THAT'S why you turned into that beast! What a shame... I mean, maybe you'd rather just wander as a spirit like the rest of them, totally unaware of what was happening all eternity...right?"

Yes, a part of me did want to be free from the responsibility as the hero, but now I realize that it's just not an option. I wouldn't be able to just sit there while Hyrule and the rest of the world succumbed to the twilight.

"Ee hee hee! So... What do you want to do? Do you want to head to that temple? Well, isn't that convenient! I was about to head there myself. Hey, look...You want to help your friends, right? The way I see it... Maybe they're in that temple, waiting for you to rescue them... Well, good luck Mr. Important Hero! Ee hee hee! See you later!"

As helpful as Midna was, she was really getting on my nerves. I still wasn't sure if I could trust her or not. For all I knew, she could be in league with the king of twilight, playing the role of a double agent.

Then again, I had no other option. I just had to go with my instinct. I had to go to that temple in the forest. Maybe my friends were brought in there and were waiting to be rescued. But what if they weren't? What then? I still had no leads, and I was getting more and more worried about them by the second.

I remembered that the gate leading to North Faron Woods was locked, and I wasn't sure where to get a key.

I noticed Coro sitting in his usual spot in front of his house. Hmm, maybe he could help me out.

Going over to him, he looked at me with surprise.

"Hunh?!" Coro studied me for a minute, not recognizing me. Then he lit up with recognition. "So...It's the Ordonian! You seemed familiar, but then your clothes seemed kinda different, so I got thrown off for a second! Listen... Things have been a little rough around here lately, so you should watch your step, OK, guy? There are so many monsters now...I got kinda scared and closed off the path to the temple."

If he meant the same temple that the light spirit Faron was talking about, I had to get there. As a wolf, I was able to dig under the gate. But I couldn't do that now.

"I need the key to the gate." I said. "I have to go back there."

"But... You, guy... You wanna get back there, huh? You sure look geared up for it... So here you go!"

Coro reached into his pocket and handed me the key to get to the gate leading to the temple.

"Oh yeah... The woods on the other side of this cave are covered in really thick fog, so make sure your lantern is full!"

I thanked him for the key and then refilled my lantern, and then sent us on our way.

We came to the gate and I unlocked it with the key, allowing us to get through. With the lantern in hand, we were able to properly navigate through the cave. A few keese and deku babas attacked us, but I slashed at them with my new sword, and a few pellets from my slingshot.

We came outside to the other side of the cave. The purple haze was still covering the area, and since I was a human it was going to be impossible getting across.

Great, so now what?

As I walked around, holding my lantern so I could see, I heard squeaking and my lantern was snatched from me!

The monkey from before hoped away from me, holding the lantern on the end of a branch. She went to the end of the dock, then waved the lantern around above her head. As she did this, some of the haze surrounding her cleared away!

She turned back to us, beckoning us. She wanted us to follow her!

Before I had time to react, Midna popped out of my shadow.

"Hey, what's this monkey's problem? You idiot! While you were staring off into dreamland, your lantern got stolen!"

I glanced at the monkey. She was still beckoning for us to follow her.

"I think she's trying to help us." I said to Midna. "She wants us to follow her, and she seems to know how to get us across safely. I think it's our only option."

"But..." Midna began, and then sighed. "Oh, whatever. But don't come crying to me if that monkey makes off with your lantern!" She disappeared back into my shadow.

I rolled my eyes and followed after the monkey. Sure enough, she led us through the weird fog, waving the lantern around so that we could walk safely ahead. We ran into a few keese and those deku babas which she left me to take care of.

Before long, we made it safely across and the monkey went on ahead, dropping the lantern onto the ground. It was out of oil, but at least we made it across safely.

We came to North Faron Woods, where a couple of those purple monsters I'd seen while going to rescue Talo were waiting for us. I took care of them with my sword and continued on.

That bridge was still there, and although I continued to wonder what it was for, I just went along.

I went to Trill's little stand to refill my lantern so that I could save the oil I had in my bottle for later. I paid the money and then continued on.

We came to the pathway, but then I stopped.

There was a golden-white wolf sitting there, blocking our path. It had one red eye. As I approached, it raised its haunches and growled at me. I drew my sword, ready to fight it.

The wolf suddenly leaped at me, and before anything happened, I blacked out.

--

I finally awoke, and stood from the ground.

As I opened my eyes, I suddenly realized that I wasn't in the forest anymore. It looked like some kind of a frozen wasteland. I walked a few steps, looking around.

Behind me, I heard panting. I tensed, and then the panting stopped. I turned around, and there was a skeleton monster standing a few yards away from me. They were known as stalfos, who were the ghostly spirits of people after they died.

The stalfos was dressed in armor with a helmet, and had a sword and a shield. Like me, it was left-handed.

It raised its sword, and held out its shield before it, taking a few steps but not moving toward me. It wanted to fight, to challenge me. So I approached it and swung my sword at it. It blocked with its shield and hit me with its own sword, sending me flying and landing on my back.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." The stalfos said.

I stood up from the ground and relaxed, since now I could see that it wasn't a bad guy. If it had been, I think I would've been dead a long time ago.

"You may be destined to become the hero of legend..." The stalfos continued. "but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear."

I stared hard at the stalfos spirit. "Then tell me what I should do." I challenged.

"You must use your courage to seek power...and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs." The stalfos explained. "If you do find true courage, and you wish to save Hyrule from the horrors it now faces... Then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold!"

Well, it seemed that this stalfos was going to help me out in my quest. I could use some help anyway. I wonder what secrets he has.

"Let us begin your training. I will teach you the first hidden skill: the ending blow." Said the stalfos.

We stood a few yards apart, and he began explaining his first secret.

"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and attack again even when stunned by a powerful strike. The ending blow is a secret technique you can use on stunned enemies to end their breath before they spring back into action. When an enemy lies collapsed on the ground, stunned, leap high into the air and deliver a final strike. Now, try it on me!"

We held out our swords and touched the blades together, it was apparently a custom I learned from Rusl when two swordsmen were training.

Ready to strike, I moved in and attacked the stalfos with my sword. He fell back and landed on the ground, stunned. I could see that he wasn't damaged, since he was a ghost. I then leaped into the air and brought my sword down through his bony torso. I leaped backward and landed a few feet away. The stalfos then rose to his feet, unscathed.

"Hmm." He said thoughtfully. "That was a pinpoint strike. Never overlook your opportunity to finish! The first hidden skill, the ending blow, has been passed on!"

I nodded, and then performed the ending blow as confirmation. I flipped back and stood up, twirling my sword in my hand and sheathing it into its scabbard. It was a trick I learned from Rusl when he trained me before.

"There are still six hidden skills for you to learn." Said the stalfos. "Those are only for one who carries the blood of the hero...the one whose spirit is that of the sublime beast. Grow powerful. Test your courage. And when you find that you need another skill to overcome the threats that face you... Search for the statues that howl to the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirit of the beast to awaken me again."

I nodded.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." He repeated from what he said to me earlier the first time he spoke. "Remember these words... Farewell!"

The world around us then faded away, and I found myself back in Faron Woods, near the path that led up to the forest temple.

Midna popped out of my shadow as I stood up from the ground.

"What happened?" She asked. "That wolf just jumped at you and disappeared, then you were lying there for a few seconds! What was up with that wolf?"

"It was a ghost." I explained. "A stalfos who seems to know the ways of the sword. He taught me a hidden skill that's apparently meant for the chosen hero, the ending blow."

"Really. Well, let's see it."

I nodded and drew my sword, demonstrating the ending blow that I had learned only moments before. If an enemy had been beneath me, it would've been dead.

"Ee hee hee! Well, so you're learning something useful with that sword!" Midna laughed. "Come on, hurry it up! We have to get into the temple!"

I rolled my eyes and nodded, sheathing my sword as Midna disappeared back into my shadow.

It was time to go into the temple and retrieve the dark power that Faron spoke of.


	8. Forest Temple

Well sorry for not having updated as fast as I did at first, but don't worry, I will still be updating at least once a week I hope!

Anyway, we're now at the Forest Temple. I'll tell you right now that I won't be spending too much time in the dungeons. They're really tedious to write and I'm sure you guys won't enjoy reading about them.

I'm sticking to Ferngirl's idea, with having the more "important" times of the dungeon detailed. Like, the mini-boss battles, getting the item you're supposed to get, and the boss battle.

And by the way, this person that made the visual guide I downloaded of the game...skipped getting Ooccoo for some reason. And I don't remember the dialogue for it. So she'll be mentioned of course, just without the dialogue. DX

Anyway, on with the story!

--

We came inside the Forest Temple, which I could see was what the big tree outside really was.

The monkey that had helped us get here was trapped in a cage in front of a wall of vines leading up to a ledge. I went in and used my sword to break the cage. The monkey cheered happily and effortlessly jumped up to the ledge, waving for us to follow her.

Later on, we ran into who I assumed was the monkey boss, too.

The monkey had led us outside to a gusty area of the temple, probably out back or something, and just as she was crossing the bridge, this bigger monkey that had a boomerang in its possession came out from the room on the other side of the bridge, and then to my surprise, he tossed the boomerang at the bridge, which cut the ropes, therefore collapsing it, with the poor girl monkey STILL on it.

With a laugh, the monkey turned around and tapped his large bottom and then retreated, still safely on the other side of the bridge.

I felt bad for the poor monkey, though. You couldn't see the bottom, so it was likely a long fall. Poor girl.

But why did the monkey boss do that to his own kind? I remember the monkey saying back when we were hunting for the bugs to clear the twilight that the monkey boss had gone funny in the head. So that could've meant the monkey boss was somehow being controlled to do this or something.

To my surprise, she climbed over the ledge where we were! The bridge was hanging from its posts, just cut in half. She must've grabbed on to it before she could fall. That's good, I didn't want to have to live to see the poor, innocent monkey not survive that attack.

The monkey was sighing in relief, and then went back to the door we came through, jumping up and down, beckoning for us to follow.

Midna popped out of the shadows then, apparently just as puzzled as I was.

"Oh! What's going on?! Has there been a monkey fight?!" She looked at the fallen bridge and groaned. "Oh no! Now we can't go any farther. We might as well go back. I don't know what's going on, but it seems like she wants to take you somewhere, so maybe you should just follow her."

Since we had no other option, I did just that and let the monkey help us out along the way through the temple.

Apparently, her monkey friends had been trapped in various places throughout the temple, and had needed my help rescuing them. Midna grumbled about this, saying it was slowing us down from finding the thing we were supposed to get, but I ignored her. I wanted to help these monkeys. It wouldn't be right to just leave them here imprisoned like that. Besides, if it hadn't been for the first monkey, we never would've gotten this far. She helped us get here, and it was only right to help her in return.

And even if she didn't help us get here, I would've helped her none the less.

Oh, and we also found this weird creature, who was stuck in a pot. She had chicken's body, and a human-like head. Her name was Ooccoo, and she said she could help us out if we needed it, by warping out of the temple and then coming right back to the same room we warped out of.

I was reluctant to take her with us, but as Midna mumbled, we needed all the allies we could get.

So along the way of saving the monkey girl's other monkey friends, solving puzzles and looking for keys, we came to the room where the monkey boss was.

It was a room with a few totem poles, and he would jump around from one to another, tossing the boomerang he had at us. How were we going to attack him? I didn't want to hurt him badly, but I had to retaliate somehow.

"Link! While he's throwing the windy thing, roll into the pole he's standing on!" Midna yelled from the shadows.

"How's that going to help!?" I shouted as I rolled out of the way to avoid being hit by the boomerang.

"Trust me on this! He'll fall down, and then you can attack him!"

I was skeptical, but I had no other option.

So I waited until the monkey tossed the boomerang toward us, and I dodged it, going toward the pole he was standing on. I rolled into it, and sure enough, the monkey boss was a bit startled, trying to regain his balance. His boomerang came flying back and whacked him in the head, causing him to fall down.

I took action and slashed at his behind with my sword, until he got up and back onto the totem pole, starting all over again.

After I repeated this process a couple of times, he yelled out in pain, grabbing his behind with his hands and hopped around in pain, then bashed into one of the poles. He fell onto his back, and this bug fell from his head. I understood then, it was that bug that was controlling him to behave badly! He really wasn't bad at all, just as I thought.

The monkey boss stood, looked at me, and then recoiled, hopping back along the totem poles and out an open section of the room. I guess he felt bad for attacking us earlier, and just now. Poor monkey. But at least he was okay now.

I looked over to my left and noticed the boomerang he had was laying on the ground. Hey, maybe it would come in handy! I went over to it, and it suddenly lifted up above the ground, spinning. A voice then spoke out from it.

"I am the Fairy of Winds who resides in this boomerang. You have freed me from evil and I now have my true power back. Please... Take it with you, use it to aid your quest and may both my power and my blessing go with you. If you focus power in your boomerang before releasing it, it will unleash the power of wind, aiding you in unforeseen ways."

Wow.

The boomerang flew around the room, and then came flying to me. I caught it with my hand and smiled. This would definitely come in handy, and I heard Midna mumble in agreement.

Well, onward.

We found the last of the monkeys trapped in the temple, along with a large, weird-looking black key. I didn't know what it was for, but then Midna answered me, saying it was likely to be the key to the boss chamber.

Later on, we came to this room where all the monkeys we'd freed were sitting on small ledges growing on the tree bark against the wall. There was a huge chasm, and a large door on the other side with a large padlock set with chains. I guessed that was the boss chamber.

But how were we going to get across? Even if I'd been a wolf, there weren't enough ledges to get close!

Suddenly, all the monkeys climbed up the tree, and lowered themselves down the branch hanging over the chasm, between us and the door. The monkeys, holding the next monkey's ankles, had created a rope in order to swing us across safely! They'd done this along the way in the temple, and were doing it again!

So I jumped, grabbing the last monkey's hands, then safely landed on the other side.

I took out the key and unlocked the padlock. The chains and padlock fell away, and I opened the much larger door.

We came inside a large room with a pool of what looked to be poisonous purple water. If this was the boss chamber, and since it was empty, that meant it was in the water. A few bomblings, which were bugs that could turn into bombs on impact, were perched on the logs in the water.

The water then bubbled in two places, and before I could react, two large deku baba-like monsters rose up from the water. They were larger, apparently, longer, and had large, gaping mouths with rows of sharp teeth, and blue ooze dripping from them and their tongues.

"That's a Twilit Parasite, Diababa!" Midna told me from the shadows. "It's the monster set to guard the forbidden power. Quick, do something before they snap at you!"

I grumbled darkly, rolling out of the way as one of the heads lunged at me. And then realized something.

Those plants were tough, but I bet they couldn't ingest an explosive.

But how could I get the bomblings into their mouths without getting dangerously close?

"Link! Use your windy thing!" Midna shouted, apparently thinking the same thing I was.

I took out the Gale Boomerang and aimed it at one of the bomblings, and then for it in order to fly into one of the Diababa head's mouths. Sure enough, the head swallowed the bombling, which promptly exploded inside its mouth. It went limp and then sank into the water.

So I used that tactic on the other head. Sure enough, it went down into the water too.

That was it? Wow, that was pretty easy!

Then there was a rumbling sound, and it was coming from the water. Oh no, something told me that it wasn't dead yet.

Sure enough, it wasn't. The two heads re-merged, but this time, with a much larger and strangely shaped monster between them. It also had a strange mouth, with an eye attached to its...tongue?

We were out of luck since the bomblings had sunk under the water when this monster had emerged. Great! What do we do now?!

"Link, that weird eye in its mouth must be its weak point!" Midna said from the shadows.

"But how can we attack?!" I wanted to know, trying to now avoid _three_ monstrous plants. "All the bomblings are gone!"

Suddenly, a familiar sound rang through the room. It was a monkey!

I looked to a small ledge on the right side, above the water, and out came the monkey boss from earlier! What was he doing here?

He swung across the room on a vine, managing to somehow avoid being caught by the monster plants. He then showed us something in his hand. A bombling! He swung across the room on the vine again, holding the bombling with his feet for us to catch. I guessed he wanted to make up for attacking us earlier and help us out.

It was pretty tricky, but it kept the larger monster plant of the three distracted as it followed the monkey's movements, but I managed to use the Gale Boomerang to snatch the bombling and had it explode right in the face of the larger plant monster. It yelled out and then fell over, its exposed eye in its mouth landing a few yards away from me.

I took a chance and ran over to it, slashing at the eye with my sword. Midna was right, it was definitely the monster's weak point.

I had to repeat this process a few times, but luckily the monkey boss kept coming back with a bombling for us to use, which was good because I used a couple to take care of the other two Diababa heads.

Finally, I slashed at the monster plant's eye once more before it thrashed about, wailing in agony. It then dried up, the eyeball fell from its place and onto the ground where it exploded into nothing.

I did the same dramatic pose in sheathing my sword, feeling pretty glad to have taken care of the monster that was plaguing the temple.

The dried up, dead monster plant suddenly exploded into Twilight squares, with the water clearing, and then formed into something. It rose above us and slowly came floating down. It was in the form of a strangely shaped stone piece. Was this the dark power the light spirit spoke about, and what Midna was after?

Midna popped out of the shadows as the artifact floated above my outstretched hands.

"Ee hee hee! Well done! That's what I was looking for." Her hair, in the shape of a hand, then reached out and took the stone piece. I was surprised that she could hold it, despite being just a shadow. "That's a Fused Shadow. It's what the light spirit called dark power..."

A Fused Shadow, so THAT'S what it was. The Fused Shadow was the dark power that Faron mentioned earlier, and this what could help us match the power of the king of of twilight. I could see Midna was trusting me little more than before, since she told me what this was.

"Do you remember what that spirit said?" Midna went on. "About how you had to match the power of the king of shadows? Could it really be so easy? Is this all there is to it? Ee hee hee! There's a total of three Fused Shadows, I think the other light spirits have the rest... If you want to know exactly what Fused Shadows are... Well, maybe I'll tell you if you find the other two. I guess you'd better do your best to find them, huh? Ee hee hee!"

That laugh of hers was really starting to get on my nerves. I did want to know what these Fused Shadows were and how they worked, but I guess Midna wanted to be sure that I would work to find the other two before she let me in on what they did. Either for trust reasons, or because she feared if I knew, I wouldn't want to get them for whatever reason.

Well I don't care, I'll get them if it means we can defeat the king of the shadows and finally go back to our old lives. I admit, I didn't mind Midna as much at this point, but I still was looking forward to when she'd be gone.

Midna lowered her hand hair, storing the Fused Shadow away. "So let's not waste any more time here when we could be looking for the other two..."

She floated over a few feet, pointed to the ground, and created one of those strange void things that we'd seen before after destroying those shadow beasts. I guessed it was so we could get out of here faster.

"I'll get you out of here..." Midna said before she hovered above the void, beckoning to me with her hand hair.

I looked around the room to make sure everything seemed to be all right, and couldn't seem to find the monkey boss. Oh well, he must've left. I'll thank him later.

Slowly I approached the strange void thing and stepped into it. My body dematerialized into those Twilight squares and we were out of there.


	9. Journey to Kakariko

Oh man, you guys won't believe how LONG it takes to get each chapter done at a time!! OKAY, you might be thinking "Jeez, you have all the info and scenes right in front of you, what are you complaining about!?"

Well, it just takes a while to get everything down and all, okay?

Well anyway, as I said before, Link IS talking in this, and Midna will sometimes say things that WEREN'T dialogued in the game.

* * *

Moments after we disappeared from the boss chamber inside the forest temple, I re-appeared in front of Faron Spring. As my body dematerialized back to normal, the golden voice of the light spirit spoke to us.

"Heroic Link... Do not think that Hyrule is now saved from the spread of twilight... Leave these woods and go to the east, where you will find the land protected by the spirit Eldin... There you will find those you seek..."

I nearly jumped at those words. It probably meant the kids! I'd been so absorbed in getting through the Forest Temple that I nearly forgot! Finally, I had leads as to where they were. I was pretty relieved to hear that and glad to finally have an idea where they could be.

I just hoped nothing bad happened to them...

The light spirit continued on, interrupting my thoughts.

"But know that these lands lie in twilight... They are now a dark realm covered by the clouds of dusk. If you set foot beyond the curtain of twilight, you will revert to your beast form, so be prepared. Hero chosen by the gods... Leave these woods and go to the east, to the land of Eldin."

The voice faded off, and then Midna popped out of my shadow.

"That's better. Searching should be much easier now. Ee hee! But... Of course, you feel the need to go help the other light spirits, don't you?"

I nodded. "Yes, I have to. I can't just leave them like this. Clearing the twilight and saving the light spirits are essential to our plan if we want to slow down the king of the twilight's own plan."

Midna grimaced a bit as I mentioned the king of the twilight, but then nodded. "Well, don't worry. When you turn into a beast again, I'll take good care of you. The first thing you need to do is find the land covered in twilight. Once you do, I'll help you out. Ee hee hee! See you later!"

That laugh of hers was REALLY getting on my nerves.

But I calmed myself and remembered that the kids were in the Eldin Province, it seemed. Which meant we had to leave through the gate near Coro's house. Stepping out into Hyrule for the first time, like I was meant to do a couple days ago.

With a bounce in my step, I headed off toward Coro's house, waving to him as I passed, and then went through the gate to get to Hyrule, to the Eldin Province.

There was a trail leading out toward the open field, although we couldn't see it from here yet. We passed a couple of those purple monsters from before, but I took care of them without even so much as a second glance.

Sure enough, at the end of the trail, was Hyrule Field.

It was HUGE. A lot bigger than I'd ever imagined! No wonder, living a quiet life tucked away in Ordon did that, causing a bigger shock to see such a field like this. It was amazing though, seeing a new place. I bet it was Heaven for children to play in and for picnics.

Ahead in the distance, I could see the large, golden and black walls that seemed unnatural. Within the wall, I could see the towers of a castle.

"See those big walls?" Midna suddenly said from the shadows. "That's the twilight, covering the lands. Ee hee hee! Don't they look amazing? It's even nicer on the inside!"

I just nodded curtly and headed east. Sure enough, the wall of twilight was there too, so I guessed that was the way to the Eldin Province. I could see a curve in the rocky rises, so that probably led somewhere.

Before we could go further, a loud, shrill voice was heard from up ahead of us.

"HEEEEEEY!"

I stopped dead in my tracks and nearly fell over, wincing slightly. What the heck!? Midna was probably wondering the same thing because I heard her utter a confused grunt from the shadows.

We got our answer as we saw a man running toward us. He was in a white sleeveless short suit with a red hat on his head, a matching backpack, and for some reason, a rectangular red flag strapped to his back. He was jogging toward us, and came to a stop a few feet away.

"Go no further!" He proclaimed. "There is a black wall ahead that blocks the way! I thought I would deliver a few letters, but it seems impossible... I am the honorable and dependable letter carrier, known to some as...the postman."

The postman? Well, he was sure lucky to be out here and not within the twilight. How did he get out here, though?

"Now that I've introduced myself, please!" The postman continued, reaching into his bag for something. He held out a red envelope to me, a letter apparently. "Take this letter and read it at your leisure! You can do that with any letters you receive. Do it whenever you see fit! Well, my business is concluded! Onward to mail!"

The postman then turned around and jogged away until he was out of sight.

"What a weirdo. He was giving _me_ the creeps." Midna muttered from my shadow.

"Each to his own." I said with a shrug.

Anyway, I took the letter he gave me and read it over. It explained that he was the postman and that he'd come running to us at high speed if he had a letter for us, and to not flee.

Um...okay. Onward then.

We continued on toward the rocks up ahead, where the wall of twilight was rising up above us. Coming around the curve, I saw the black wall that was blocking our path, much like what I saw back in Ordon, to the entrance of Faron Woods.

As I approached it, Midna popped out of my shadow.

"Hey, it was much closer than I thought... You remember, right? You know what this is? If you set foot in there, you might be a wolf again for quite some time...For at least as long as it takes for you to save the light of Eldin from the twilight, anyway... So, shall we try to go see the light spirit of Eldin? Ee hee!"

She disappeared in my shadow, and I approached the black wall of the twilight. The strange, golden markings appeared.

Midna popped out of my shadow again just as we got closer. "Want me to lead you into the twilight?"

I nodded.

She turned around and floated through the wall, creating a small ripple where she went through. A moment later, a large, orange hand reached out from the wall, grabbed me, and pulled me inside. I cried out as it happened. Jeez, did she have to do it so roughly?

--

I was sprawled on the ground on the other side of the wall, inside the twilight. I managed to pull myself to my feet, a bit shaken up from being pulled in through the wall.

Suddenly my body shifted downward, my bones changed, fur and a tail sprouted, and my face lengthened. I was a wolf again.

Midna plopped onto my back in her usual manner, right onto her old seat. I stumbled slightly and looked at her over my shoulder.

"That's a good boy!" Midna cajoled, slapping her hands against my back. "Now, you need to listen to what I say from now on! Ahh, look! How lovely! The black clouds of twilight are so fetching today... I feel so much more at ease here... And you look so much better like this than in those dusty old clothes, anyway. Ee hee! So, let's get going!"

Well, I don't mind being a wolf, but I did like my new hero's garb. They were comfortable and unique, I find. Even when I was surprised in finding myself wearing them after I'd become human again when we first cleared the twilight, it felt so right wearing them, as though I was showing who I truly was.

They weren't dusty at all!

I chose to just ignore her comment and then sprang forward down the continuing trail, giving Midna a little buck to scare her a little.

I had to admit, it was kind of cute when she'd cry out "Oh!" whenever I ran too fast and jumped a little, bucking her a little.

I shook my head lightly at the thought. What was I thinking?

Up ahead, I caught sight of something in the middle of the road. Curious, we went over to it, and I saw that it was the wooden sword I'd given to Talo! Oh no, could this have meant something happened to him and the rest of them?

Suddenly, I had an idea! I was a wolf, and like most animals, I could use my sense of smell to locate people or food, pretty much anything that contained a scent. This wooden sword definitely contained Talo's scent, so I'd be able to find him and the rest of the children.

I went over closer and sniffed it. Sure enough, I caught the scent I recognized to be Talo, Malo, Beth and Colin. I couldn't catch Ilia's scent, for some reason. Oh well, I'm sure she was all right with the rest of the children.

"See, isn't being a wolf more convenient?" Midna remarked. "Now, hone your senses! You've begun to reawaken as a wolf, I think. Ee hee!"

I just nodded in agreement and honed my senses. Sure enough, I could almost _see_ the trail of the scent of the children as I followed it down the path.

We came to a large gap separating both sides by a huge chasm. Before we could approach where the bridge was, a familiar barrier surrounded us, and three shadow monsters came to attack us. Oh please, by now we'd narrowed down defeating them to an art. We dispatched of them and opened another one of those weird void things right above us.

But when we came to the bridge, we were met with a nasty surprise.

There was no bridge. The front of it was there, but the rest of it wasn't.

The scent of the children also continued on the other side, so we had to get across.

"What's this?!" Midna exclaimed from my back. "That's strange... The bridge is gone... I wonder if this is the work of those shadow creatures... Ugh... What a pain! Ah well, let's look for it... You! Whenever you destroy those creatures of darkness, a portal opens up that looks like this." She pointed up toward the strangely shaped void thing, which I knew now was a portal. "You hear me? It's called a portal. You'd better remember that! And... in those woods we came through... Yes! It's got to be around there... I'll use my power to take you to the location of the open portal..."

I mulled that over, and remembered the lone bridge that was back in Faron Woods. That had to be it! Midna must have seen it too.

I pointed my nose back where we had come from, and Midna understood, since my body then dematerialized into twilight squares and disappeared into the portal above us.

We came back into Faron Woods, near the Forest Temple. Midna had hidden in my shadow like she would when we weren't in the twilight.

"See! I told you. We're here!" Midna said as she popped out from my shadow. "You know, most people can't leave the twilight that easily. You'd better be grateful! It's your job to look for the bridge! Look hard!"

_Everything_ physical was my job, Midna. I wanted to say.

Anyway, sure enough, I spotted the bridge I'd seen there while we were clearing Faron Woods from the Twilight. It was still there, and unmistakably the bridge we needed, since it had the same arc design.

I trotted over to it, and Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Wow! It's perfect, don't you think? What do you think? Should we take it?"

I just rolled my eyes slightly and nodded.

"Good obedient little wolf!" Midna cooed as if I was a puppy. I growled at her but she ignored it.

She turned around, pointed her shadowed hand hair at the bridge, coating it with her twilight magic, apparently. She grunted hard, and then threw her arms up in a lifting gesture, letting out a cry for good measure.

The bridge shook, and then lifted itself up into the air, slowly. It then dissolved into twilight squares, rising into the portal above us.

Midna disappeared back into the shadows and I too felt my body dematerialize as we disappeared into the portal as well.

We landed back in the twilight, on our new bridge. Sure enough, it was a perfect fit.

Midna plopped rudely onto my back, causing me to grunt and then growl at her lightly.

"See! Just as I thought... Eee hee! So, isn't the power of twilight amazing? Call me if you need the power again. It should help you in what we're looking for, don't you think? All right, let's keep going!" She slapped my back with her hands and tapped my ribs with her feels.

Choosing to ignore her actions, I went across the bridge, continuing to follow the scent of the children.

We came to a barred gate, and on the other side were two twilight bulblins. Midna was the first to notice them.

"Huh... What are they doing here? This is a pretty elaborate gate... What are they trying to keep in? ...Or out?" Her gaze dropped down below the gate, I followed her gaze and noticed some of the ground sunken in. "I bet it'll be worth our while to dig in..."

I didn't need to be told twice. After all, the scent of the kids continued past the gate so we had to get past.

I dug under the ground and came out on the other side, then we killed the bulblins and continued on our way.

--

We came to this rugged, run-down village that was apparently known as Kakariko Village. It looked deserted, I couldn't see any spirits, just a few of those twilight birds flying around.

Near the spring to our right, were a few shadow beasts. We took care of them and opened a new portal. Good, we could warp here now.

Right then, a struggling golden voice spoke to us, coming from the spring.

"To the hero...who transformed into a blue-eyed beast...in the realm of shadows... In twilight... This way..."

We went into the spring, and like before, all that remained of the light spirit was a faint, golden mist. We went over to it as it continued speaking to us.

"...I am...a spirit...of light... Hero...chosen by the gods... Look for...my light... Gather the light stolen by the shadows...into this..."

The remainder of the spirit then presented us with a vessel of light, just like before. Oh boy, this meant we had to go on another bug hunt, I bet.

"... The insects of darkness... They are the form taken...by the evil that attached itself...to my scattered light... In this shadowy twilight...the shadow insects are invisible, much as the people from your light world are... With the last of my power...let me show you...the locations...of the tears that have turned into...shadow insects... But...be careful... The darkness...now hunts you."

"Gee, we figured as much." Midna mumbled under her breath.

With the vessel of light in hand, we were sent on our way.


	10. Kakariko Village

I wonder why Midna said "As romantic as this is" when the storehouse was on fire. XD It's kind of funny to me, when she could've said anything else!

Hmmm...

As much as the bug hunts are tedious and boring, I figure it's better to do them since this IS a novelization. I'm already cutting enough by not doing a full detail of the dungeons.

Oh! And I love it when Link (as a wolf) turns around in a circle after he finishes howling a song. It's so cute! Speaking of which, the person who made the visual guide I use to do this, actually SKIPPED going to howl at the howl stone! What the heck?!

Well, it made a lot more work for me since I had to do it from memory. Luckily, I played the game enough times to pretty much memorize it. Ugh.

Anyway, here we go.

--

With the vessel of light in our possession, we headed over to where the scent of the children led. It was this large, stone building near the spring. I caught sight of someone peeking out through one of the windows, mumbling.

There was just one problem.

We couldn't get inside. I was a wolf and couldn't open doors, and I could see that Midna wasn't about to either. Great.

I went around near the back to see if maybe there was a backdoor or even a spot I could dig through.

"Hey, you can climb up here!" Midna suddenly said.

I followed her gaze, and looked to see a dead tree, facing a wooden awning, and from there we could get onto the roof. Perfect!

Midna floated to the tree, I jumped up after her, then the awning, and onto the roof.

There was some wood and straw on the roof, and once we stepped on it, we fell through a hole and into the building.

Once inside, I could see there was six spirits sitting around. Using my senses, I saw a man next to the window, peeking out. He was wearing a visor, like some people did when dealing with extreme temperatures.

The other spirits were the children sitting with this man with long black hair, and a young girl who looked to be his daughter. The kids looked scared and nervous, but they didn't seem to be hurt. Thank the Goddesses they were all right. I was glad to know that.

But where was Ilia? I didn't see her there with them. What if something happened to her? Where was she?

"Cripes! I don't see those black brutes anywhere..." The man by the window suddenly said. He also wore little round glasses. "They've gotta be hidin' somewhere, waitin' for their helpless little prey to come out! Then they'll FEAST!"

I guess he couldn't see that we killed the shadow beasts. They had nothing to worry about.

"We are safe as long as we remain in here, child. Be at ease." Said the man who was sitting with the children.

"Oh yeah? I wonder if the monsters out there agree with you..." The other man by the window said. "They sure didn't seem impressed by my bombs! How long do you think we can hold this sanctuary against beasts that strong, huh? Once they attack, it's OVER!"

I could see Talo cowering in fear as he clung to the long-haired man.

How dare this guy scare the kids like that! Talking that way in front of children, how despicable. If I wasn't in the twilight or a wolf right now, I'd teach him a lesson. At least the other man was trying to be comforting.

"Remember the lady from the general store?" The man with the visor continued. "Just one of those things attacked her, and a whole gang from town went to save her! And what happened? She was already gone, and there were TWO monsters waitin'! ... You connectin' the dots? That means that if we get attacked by them, then we'll be..."

"BARNES!" The other man shouted angrily, interrupting the little speech that the man named Barnes was making. Obviously he'd had enough of him scaring the children.

Beth started to cry, burying her face in her hands. The other man glanced at Barnes, sighing in exasperation as if to say "Now look what you did!"

Lowering his visor, Barnes sank to the floor, half sobbing himself.

"Look, Renado..." Barnes said to the other man who was obviously Renado. "All I mean to say is that it's risky here, too! Ain't you got someplace we can hide?"

"There is...a cellar." Renado admitted.

Hearing this, Barnes scrambled over on all fours, surprised to hear this. "WHAAT?! You've got a cellar?! Where's the entrance, man?"

"The entrance to the cellar is designed to open when all of the candles have been lit..." Renado explained.

I looked around the room, and sure enough, there candles situated along the round area. Wow, pretty secretive idea. Although not very convenient if you have to get in there fast. Maybe a hidden door would've been more effective.

Barnes took a torch and went to light a fire in the small metal bowl sitting next to the large owl statue. As he crawled away, Renado's daughter spoke up.

"...I...would not do that." She said as Barnes stopped in mid-crawl and fell on his stomach. "When Father instructed me to secure the cellar, I saw insects like the beasts outside..."

Insects? She must've meant the bugs we had to hunt for in order to gather the spirit's tears of light. Sure enough, I sensed that there were insects down in the cellar. We had to get down there.

Barnes, hearing this, suddenly scrambled back to the window in fright. Obviously he didn't like that idea, going down in the cellar where the bugs were. I guess I couldn't blame him.

Beth was still crying, and Colin was trying to soothe her.

"Don't cry, Beth! It'll be OK!" Colin reached out to pat her, but she slapped his hand away.

I rolled my eyes at this. Jeez, even in this kind of situation, they still can't stand him. Oh well, I'll worry about that later.

But Colin didn't seem to care. "Link is coming to save us all!"

This caught the kid's attention, since they all seemed to stop crying and realize what he was saying. Barnes just made a confused grunt.

"...I can feel it!" Colin said.

I was surprised to hear that. Colin really believed I was coming to save them, and here I was doing just that. I couldn't believe it. They all thought for sure I would, and yet they didn't know I really was.

It was pretty sad. But here I realized that being a hero didn't just mean defeating enemies, it also meant being there for the ones you cared about.

Don't worry, kids. I'm going to work to clear the twilight from this place and make sure you all get home safely.

I looked at Midna over my shoulder as she started talking.

"These kids knew you'd come save them! What a hero!" She said mockingly. "How sad, to be right in front of someone and not be noticed at all... Ee hee hee! You are chosen by the gods, and only that keeps you from turning into a spirit, or worse, into a dark monster, when you enter twilight. And no one knows what you have done... You may be doomed to toil in obscurity forever... You're the type to worry about everything, I can tell...but don't fret over Princess Zelda! She chose this state of affairs, after all..."

I was having a very hard time biting her right now. But then again, she did have a point. I know Zelda didn't exactly choose for this to happen, she just did because she wanted to save her people. I'm sure she was beginning to wonder if her decision to surrender really was the right thing to do.

I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to face that kind of decision.

It was true that the spirits here now couldn't see us in the twilight, and it was good thing because we would've scared them, a wolf and an imp would definitely stir up trouble. But they were counting on me, I wanted them to know I was coming to save them.

"Anyway, what's with having to light candles to get to the basement?!" Midna continued, incredulous of the idea. Not very subtle, is it... So, what are you going to do now? My lonely little hero... Ee hee!"

I think I might've blushed if I wasn't a wolf, or if Midna hadn't said that mockingly.

Anyway, I went over and picked up the stick from the ground, lighting one end of it with the fire. Then we went up the little staircase, jumping the gaps and lighting the candles along the way.

Once all the candles were lit, the large owl statue slid over to the side, revealing a hole in the floor, obviously leading to the cellar.

The opening of the door also caught the attention of the spirits in the room.

"What sorcery is this?!" Renado exclaimed. "The entrance to the cellar is opening on its own... Could those beasts have engineered this?"

Oops. Maybe I should've waited until they weren't looking.

Anyway, we went to the trapdoor and fell through it.

Up ahead, we came to a round room in the underground basement. There were three bugs in the room. We took care of them and collected the tears of light.

There was nothing else in the room, except for another doorway leading to an empty space with scaffolding, and there was a strange owl statue nudged into a crook in the wall. I stared at it for a moment. Something told me we would be dealing with that later.

We went through the other doorway, since there was no other way to get back out. There was a hole up in the ceiling of this room.

"...How about that?" Midna suddenly said. "Looks like you can climb the scaffolding..."

She floated to the one of the right, I leaped after her, then to the left, then up and out!

We came out through a large hole surrounded by a stone wall, in a graveyard. What a pleasant place to put the cellar, beneath the graveyard.

But I digress.

There was a bug near us, so we killed it and took the tear. We sensed some other bugs off in the village, so we turned and headed out of the graveyard.

Back in the village, which we could see was pretty run-down and abandoned, we went to what appeared to be the general store, across from the sanctuary. There was a bug inside.

I couldn't see a way in, but then I spotted a hole in the side of the building I could crawl through. Midna disappeared into my shadow and I crawled through the hole.

The bug was near a couple of jars, so with the help of Midna's energy field, we killed it and collected the tear. Once we had it, I crawled back out where I came in.

Next to the store was a hotel, and there were some bugs inside. Midna pointed over to a hill, where we could jump to the ledge leading into the hotel through the window.

We went up the hill and jumped the gap, getting inside.

There was a bug in the fireplace, but we couldn't get it out. I noticed a stick near the fireplace, and a lit candle on the wall next to the door.

Hmm...

I picked up the stick, went over to the candle and lit one end of the stick. Going back to the fireplace, I set the wood inside on fire, and sure enough, the bug came scampering out through a hole in the piping that led up to be a chimney through the roof. We killed it and collected the tear.

Going through the doorway, we came into the lobby. A couple of twilight goblins, or bulblins were waiting around in there. We killed them off and went upstairs, since a bug was up there.

The bug was in the room, on the wall. Using the energy field, we managed to get it off the wall and killed it, taking the tear of light.

Once done in here, we went back down into the kitchen where we came in, and climbed up some boxes and shelves to get back out the way way we came.

Next, we went down into the village and came to a bomb shop, apparently owned by Barnes.

We climbled a couple of crates, a dumpster and a smaller shed. There was a window there we could get in through, but we'd have to break the glass. I braced myself and we jumped the gap and into the window. Luckily, neither of us got hurt by the broken glass.

Inside, we went up some stairs and came to find the bug hiding behind a cabinet. I knocked it down, and we took care of it.

We couldn't get back out the same way, but I noticed another window at the top of a ladder and ledge. We climbed up the shelfing and then came outside.

On the roof, we sensed a few bugs up at the top of the hill. So we went up there, and came to a small building overlooking the village. I dug through some dirt went inside, and found the bug hiding among some jars. We killed it and took the tear before digging back out.

We sensed a bug crawling into the storehouse up above near the bomb shop. We went down there, and went inside through a hole in the side of the building.

The bugs were hidden in the small fireplace, there were three of them. A couple of sticks were lying around, and there was a small pit of a lit fire. I took a stick, lit it, and lit the fire.

Apparently, I didn't notice the cautionary sides around the storehouse stating that there was highly flammable material.

The bugs shot out from the fireplace, creating sparks that flew about. Flames blossomed around, and before I knew it, the storehouse was on fire!

"Huh?! What did you do?!" Midna cried in surprise. "Sorry, but as romantic as this is, I'm not going to stay in here with you. I'm getting out!"

She floated out to the hole and went outside. How lovely, saving herself. Oh well.

I hurriedly crawled out through the hole, making it out just in time before the flames singed me. Midna plopped onto my back as I came running out and away from the storehouse. Once we were away safely, there was a loud explosion and we turned around, seeing that the storehouse was gone, and there were three tears of light floating in its place among the debris and remainder of the walls.

Well, at least it killed the bugs.

"Hmm... I don't suppose there's any nicer way to hunt these things, huh? Well, you had to sacrifice someone's house to find Tears of Light...but that's how the cookie crumbles, right?" Midna said thoughtfully.

I made a wolf shrug and went over to the damage and retrieved the tears.

There was another bug in one of the buildings down below near us, so we jumped down to the roof, and fell through the wood and straw covering a hole in the roof.

We found the bug hiding under a crate, which I pushed away with my shoulder. It came scampering out, and we killed it.

We still had three left to find, but there didn't seem to be anymore in town. Where were the rest? I could sense them, but they seemed to be up higher and away from the village.

"If you're done with your errand, then let's get out of here." Midna said, pointing to a cabinet we could leap onto in order to get back out through the roof.

So we made our way to get back outside, looking around to see where to go next.

To our right, I saw a pathway leading out of the village, opposite of the way we came in. Curious, we hopped down from the roof and went out along the trail. Up ahead was gate, leading out of the village. Epona could definitely leap that gate.

Where was Epona anyway? She was obviously taken away by the monsters, but she wasn't here either. I hoped she was okay too.

Along the canyon wall, I noticed a trail leading up to Death Mountain, as the sign near it said. The bugs were up there, so we went up the trail.

We came to an impassable wall, with mesh and a broken ladder. If I was in my human form, I could probably climb the mesh up the wall. But since I was a wolf, I couldn't climb like that.

"Looks like the path's impassable...but I can get you up if you want to go." Midna said, pointing to a small, raised ledge near the wall.

We went over to it, and she floated to a rock. I leaped to the rock, then she went to the top of the ledge, where I joined her and we were on our way.

There was a strange rock-like creature spirit near us, complaining about standing guard, and suffering for the sake of their pride when they could ask the humans for help if they could help with it.

I guess everyone was suffering pretty bad with this twilight invasion. Well, we were going to free Hyrule from the twilight completely, take care of the king of twilight and then everyone would be saved.

We continued up the trail, and came to another mesh-covered wall. But there were some metal pipes and crates along the side, so we were able to climb them and get to the top.

Up ahead, there was a bug near some steaming gyzers. We killed it and took the tear.

There was also a strangely shaped stone, that I think was called a gossip stone. It had a strange eye symbol on it, the crest of an ancient tribe from a long time ago. It was also whistling, like the wind. As I listened, it was a tune that was known as the Song of Healing.

Then I remembered what the stalfos ghost told me, and realized this was probably the message he was sending me.

I sat down next to the stone, listened to the tune again, and then howled back the same tune. In satisfaction, I eagerly whirled around in a circle before I was lost in some kind of a trance.

Before I knew it, I found myself perched on floating ledge above the same castle from the other strange world. And off nearby on a ledge like mine, I could see the golden wolf, who we saw back at the entrance to the forest temple.

On instinct, I sat down and howled the tune again. And then the golden wolf howled back, and we howl-sang a duet. It was pretty nice.

After it was over, I could hear the voice of the stalfos.

"Let teachings of old pass to you... Take sword in hand and find me..."

The golden wolf then leaped off the ledge it was perched on.

After a moment, I came to and then we continued our way up the mountain trail.

Then we came to the main area known as Death Mountain. There was a mountain of lava towering up above us in the distance, and a lot of ledges and canyons we could climb up.

Inside down in the crater, we were penned again by the shadow beasts. We took care of them and created another portal. Perfect, now we can warp back here if we need to.

There was a bug on the wall nearby, so Midna used her energy field and we killed it, taking the tear.

We climbed up the ledge, and went along the edge until Midna led the way up to higher ledge. The last bug was somewhere up there, and we found inside of what looked like a quarry.

With the bug taken care of, we collected the tear, filling the Vessel of Light. We were then warped back to the spirit's spring.

The Vessel of Light floated out, and then went into the spring. Like before, the twilight cleared and light returned to the Eldin Province. I was human again, standing before the spirit's spring.

Midna, now in her shadow form, was floating over the water.

"Aw, I was just starting to have fun! Don't forget that Fused Shadow! Ee hee hee! See you later!" Then she twirled around and disappeared just as the spring's water and rocks lit up with a holy glow.

The orb of light rose up from the water, swirling in its light. The light spirit then appeared, which was in the form of a large, majestic owl. It spread its wings and perched its talons onto the orb.

"My name is Eldin." It said in its golden voice. "I am one of the light spirits of Hyrule. I am the spirit that guards these lands. O great hero chosen by the gods..."

It pointed its head up toward Death Mountain, I followed its gaze as I wondered if it meant we had to go up there again.

"The dark power you seek lies in the sacred grounds of the proud mountain dwellers. But already these grounds have been defiled, draped in shadow and seeded with evil. You must go to those sacred grounds and cleanse them."

Eldin then folded its wings, and disappeared in a bright glow of light.

OK, so that meant we had to go up Death Mountain and go into some kind of sacred grounds in order to find the Fused Shadow.

With that in mind, I turned and left the spring. At the corner of my eye, at the sanctuary, I noticed the door open and someone standing in the doorway. Sure enough, I looked and there was Colin. I could also see Talo and Beth peeking out from inside.

"Link?!" Colin exclaimed.

He rushed out to greet me, but Talo pushed him down to the ground and ran past him over to me. Beth came running to, and Malo walked past him also. None of them seemed to care about how Colin felt.

"Ha ha ha! See, Beth?! I TOLD you Link would save us!" Talo exclaimed.

Although I knew fully well that it was Colin who first said I would come save them, since I was there when he said it, but I couldn't tell them that. I didn't like how they were treating Colin, but I was happy to see them and glad they were okay none the less.

I looked over at Colin, who smiled and helped himself up, coming over to the rest of us. Renado, his daughter and Barnes had come outside too and came over to us.

"You are the one from Ordon whom these children spoke of?" Renado asked me.

I nodded.

"We are well met. I am Renado, shaman of this town. And this..."

Barnes must've thought Renado was introducing him, so he lifted his visor and grinned stupidly.

"This is my daughter, Luda." Renado finished, gesturing toward the girl next to him, who smiled up at me.

I held back a chuckle as Barnes flipped his visor back down, mumbling to himself and walking away.

"The beasts took us and left us to die...but Mr. Renado found us." Colin explained, looking up at the shaman.

"At first, I couldn't believe they had come from so distant a place as the Ordona Province..." Renado remarked.

"Yeah, I... We don't remember much. All of a sudden everyone was captured, and then...until now...it's been like..." Colin said.

"...A nightmare." Malo finished for him.

Colin nodded in agreement. "Yeah! It was like a terrible dream and we couldn't wake up..."

"Mmm... Nightmares are everywhere these days, it seems. This village has certainly seen its shares of recent hardships..." Renado said, and looked up toward Death Mountain. "The dark beasts attacked, but even worse was the sudden inexplicable change in the mountain-dwelling Goron tribe. They had long been our friends, but suddenly treat us as foes. Even now they refuse to permit us entry into their mines. It strains the limits of belief... To think that such a gentle and proud tribe could change so suddenly... It makes me wonder if something in those mines is the cause of this change..."

That would explain why that Goron guard was mumbling about the whole thing of the elders apparently not allowing humans around on the mountain. What _was_ up with that? First they were friends with the humans, and now a sudden change?

I wonder if the Fused Shadow had anything to do with any of this trouble.

Renado sighed and then turned back to me. "In any case, you must take these children and flee this village before more nightmares descend. I, of course, cannot leave my village in such a time. There is no telling what may happen to us here... But it is my job to try to coax the Gorons back from their recent change of heart."

The kids all looked up at me, silently begging me to do just that.

There was one problem. How would we get back?


	11. Death Mountain

Because the person didn't use the Howl stone, he or she didn't go see our ghostie friend. Great. Just great.

So I won't be including dialogue about that. I don't have the time or patience to do that on the game and I don't know where else I can find clips of it. DX

So, unless this person smartens up...we're sunk.

Oh, and I remember when I first played the game and I saw Link without his shirt on. Hahaha!! xD If this game had come out when I was 11-12, when I had a huge crush on Link, I would've gone CRAZY!

When I first played the horse battle, let me tell you...I did NOT have an easy time. I kept focusing on killing the bulblins, thinking that if I got rid of all of them, I could go after King Bulblin without any distractions. Well...that was a big mistake. I lost sight of him, and more and more bulblins kept coming! DX

I realize now that you have to try NOT to lose sight of him.

Oh, one last thing. You know one of the things I like best about _Twilight Princess_? Link actually smiles and shows emotions. I thought that was always so neat. :D And yes, I know he did the same in _Wind Waker_, which was also pretty refreshing to see.

--

We didn't have any other options, so I decided to go up Death Mountain and see if we could get into the Mines somehow.

I did want to take the kids back to Ordon, but it was a long way off and if we weren't careful, something bad could happen. They were safe here for now, so I didn't have to worry about them.

Besides, I knew Midna wouldn't stop bugging me if I stalled for time in getting the Fused Shadow. I had to make haste and get it over with.

So, we went to the trail and I climbed up the mesh netting over the ledge. It was climbable, so I was able to get up there easily. Up ahead some yards away was the Goron guard we'd seen just some time ago when the area was covered in twilight.

He saw us, and needless to say, he didn't look too happy.

"Ah! No humans allowed! These lands ahead belong to the Goron tribe! The elder said no humans may pass!" He yelled.

I was about to turn to leave, but then he rolled up in some kind of a defensive position, and came straight at us!

For a split second, I didn't know what to do, but then I remembered that this was just like back home when a goat would get loose and charge through the village. I was an expert at wrestling goats, so maybe, just maybe, I could do the same for this Goron!

I braced myself, holding my arms out, like I usually did when I was facing a charging goat. The Goron came right at me, and I managed to grasp his rocky surface, but he went too fast and knocked me back, sending me over the edge.

Owww!!!

The Goron, now standing upright, looked down menacingly at us.

"A weak spirit is no match for the might of the Gorons! Do you understand me, human? Then a way with you!" He turned and walked back o his post.

I staggered to my feet just as Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Link, what were you thinking?! You could've been crushed into a pancake! If we're going to get that Fused Shadow, I need you to be more careful!" She yelled accusingly.

I groaned a bit, rubbing my head. "I know, I didn't think it through. I figured I could take care of him like I did back home when I would wrestle goats."

"...What?" Midna said incredulously. "_Wrestling_ goats?!"

"Back home, when a goat would charge, you had to grab it by the horns and toss it to the side." I explained.

"Jeez. Well, whatever! No use going up there now. Guess we may as well go back." Midna said, and then disappeared into my shadow.

Deciding she was right, I turned and headed back to the village. At the entrance to the Death Mountain trail, Renado was standing there, and looked concerned. I guessed he saw me going and followed us.

"Ah, how fortunate you are in one piece! I saw you heading up the mountain trail, so I was worried. Are you trying to reach the Gorons of Death Mountain?"

I nodded.

"It is far too dangerous, Link! They recognize only strength! A normal person could never persuade them..." Then he paused, as if remembering something. "But...I do know one person who was able to best them and earn their trust... His name is Bo. You may know him as the mayor of your hometown, Ordon."

"That fat guy?" I heard Midna mumble from the shadows. Luckily, Renado didn't hear her.

"Please, go to him. And while you are there, please let him know that the children are safe. Of course, getting them back would be best...but we could not keep them safe from the monsters on the road without a horse and cart... Please... Return to Ordon and inform the parents that their children are free from harm. Give them my word."

I nodded and thanked him for the information, then headed back into the village. I heard Midna mumbling from my shadow about wasting time and walking all the way back to Ordon, but I ignored her. If she wanted to go get the Fused Shadow herself, she could be my guest.

But then again, the thought of her getting hurt, lost or killed didn't sit well with me. I couldn't let her go alone, and she knew it too.

We reached the spring, but then I heard something. It sounded like...hooves. Yes! It was hooves! I turned around, listening to the sound of approaching hooves. A horse was likely coming into the village, from the opposite entrance to here.

Sure enough, I saw Epona come tearing around the corner, rushing toward me. She usually did that when I'd call her.

But something wasn't right. She was close to me and didn't stop running. It was as if she was going to ram right into me! I managed to roll out of the way, and then I realized it. Something had spooked her pretty bad, and she didn't recognize me.

She came to a stop, and I took the chance. I ran to her and managed to hop over her and onto the saddle, but she reared in fright, and I nearly fell off. She started to run again, but I managed to grab onto the saddle horn, hanging on for dear life as she charged around through the town. I grit my teeth as my stomach painfully banged against the saddle, but I held on.

Finally, she came to a stop and I managed to fully set myself onto the saddle and grab her reins. I seized her to a stop and she whinnied in protest, and then I leaned over and whispered to her soothingly. Finally, she stopped struggling and calmed down.

I led her out of the spring and toward the way out of the village to get back to the Faron Province when Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Hmm... You're not too shabby a wrangler after all! Won't this make getting back to your town a lot easier? Now go finish your errand so we can get back! Get a move on!"

Midna paused for a moment and looked at Epona, studying her.

"She's really pretty. A fine creature." She admitted. "Is she yours?"

"Yeah. Her name is Epona." I told her, stroking Epona's mane.

"Epona? ...That's the name of a horse Goddess, isn't it?"

I nodded. "She looks a lot like the horse Goddess from the legends, so I named her that. I thought it was nice."

"Mm..." Midna nodded, and then disappeared into the shadows again.

That being said, I nudged Epona's ribs and we rode off into Hyrule Field.

--

It wasn't that far and didn't take as long on horseback, but we finally pulled into Faron Woods where I passed Coro and made my way by Faron Spring, the bridge, and into Ordon.

I left Epona in the spring so she could cool down and drink up. Then I heard something nearby. A familiar sound.

So I turned around and near the water, was the golden wolf from before. I slowly approached it, and it crouched low, growling. I drew my sword, and it leaped at me, and we disappeared.

I met with the stalfos ghost warrior again, and this time he taught me a skill known as the Shield Attack, where I use my shield to strike against enemies with hard exteriors, and it can also be used to hit back projectiles.

After I came to, I left the spring and headed into the village.

Sure enough, everything seemed to be fine, even with the raise of sadness in the air over the kidnapping of the children. Well, at least now I can ease their spirits and let them know that the kids were all right.

I saw Mayor Bo outside his house, and so I ran over to him since I had to go see him about dealing with the Gorons anyway. He seemed to know Renado, so I bet he'd be sure that the children were all right.

"Link?!" He exclaimed when he saw me. He studied me a moment, and his green eyes popped open. "Whoa, it IS you, Link! You're safe and sound! Your clothes... What happened to you, lad?"

"Well..." I said as I approached.

"C-Come quick! Inside!"

--

After we got inside, I told him that the children were in Kakariko Village, and that they were safe. I wasn't quite sure if I should mention that I didn't see Ilia anywhere...maybe he'd assume I meant her as well?

Then again, I didn't like to hide this kind of thing from anyone, but I wasn't sure what to tell him.

"I see... So the young'uns are in Kakariko Village!" Said Mayor Bo, sounding relieved. "Well, that's good... Renado's an old friend. If they're in his care, then we can relax."

He paused, and got right to the point that I hoped he wouldn't mention.

"So... Don't keep me waiting, lad! Tell me of my little girl! Ilia is with the rest of 'em, right?"

I turned away, ashamed. "...She wasn't with them." I said. "I don't know where she is."

I still had no leads on where she was, and I was pretty worried about her. I just hoped nothing happened to her. I'd be devastated if she was hurt.

"...Oh! I see... That ain't what I wanted to hear... Ahh.... But Link... I guess I need to think of all five of those poor kids, not just my own... They're all in danger. What I should be askin' is how I can help out..."

That's when I remembered that I needed help getting past the Gorons. Since Renado said that Bo had managed to surpass them, I knew he was my only chance.

"I need your help getting past the Gorons of Death Mountain. Renado said that you were able to surpass them in strength." I told him.

That caught his attention. "What's that, now? The Gorons of Death Mountain? I see... So Renado told you that... Well, it's true...I did defeat the Gorons in a contest of strength and earned their trust. ...With the help of a little secret. I CAN teach you the secret...but can you promise me that you absolutely, positively will NOT disclose it to anyone?"

I nodded.

"Good. All righty, then. Absolutely no one! Come this way."

Mayor Bo led me through to a back room in his house. It was a large room with a circular platform in the centre. The platform had two horizontal lines parallel to each other. I believe it was a sumo wrestling ring. Mayor Bo was apparently an expert sumo wrestler, which sure explained his size.

"Link, you've heard of sumo wrestlin', right? Gorons like to match strength in sumo contests. Luckily for you, the basics of sumo are the same as stoppin' chargin' goats... You wanna hear more?"

I nodded again. If I had to defeat the Gorons in a sumo wrestling contest, I needed to know everything there was to the whole thing.

"All righty, then. I'll teach you the basics of the ways of sumo. If you're gettin' in a sumo match, chances are you're in an arena like this. The first fella to push his foe outside the arena wins. Step forward and grab your foe. Use your hand to let a retreatin' foe taste your open palm. Sidestep a foe's advance. Three techniques, all of 'em pretty basic. Master all three and you'll be shovin' folks out of the arena in no time, lad! Come into the ring, lad."

So we got ourselves changed, appropriate for Sumo Wrestling, and were ready to go. I'd taken off my Hero's Garb and put on my regular pants. I heard Midna giggling from the shadows as I undressed, and went into the ring without a shirt. I didn't understand why, I was just changing and not wearing a shirt. What's the big deal?

"Ee hee hee! You have a nice body, Link!" Midna teased me. "Maybe you should go around without a shirt on more often! Ee hee!"

I blushed a bit at her remark. My body was trim, I guess. But it wasn't THAT nice.

Anyway, so we stepped into the ring and we practiced Sumo Wrestling. It was pretty hard the first time, but I got the hang of it. Mayor Bo pushed me out of the ring the first time, but I managed to best him in the other two matches.

I had to admit, it was something different, and yet it was a bit like facing a charging goat.

After we were done, we changed back into our clothes-with Midna teasing me as I was doing so-and went back to the main room of the house.

"You've gotten a sight stronger in the short time you've been gone, Link... Strong as you are, though, you can't hope to defeat the Gorons wrestlin' with power alone. Those Gorons are made of rock! Naw, the secret to beatin' the Gorons...is locked away in that chest. Take it with you, lad." Mayor Bo gestured toward a chest nearby him.

Curiously, I went over to the chest he pointed to and lifted the lid. Inside, I pulled out a pair of strange-looking boots. They were apparently made of iron. Wow, so this was how he defeated the Gorons. He had the iron boots in order to prevent being pushed away easily.

"You can probably tell, those boots are made of iron, lad. Whoever wears 'em won't easily be pushed around...even by a Goron. If you're fixin' to fight a Goron, be sure to wear those boots. ...Let's be square though, lad: you can't ever tell ANYONE about these boots! 'Specially Renado!"

"So, then they won't question your change in shoes?" Midna muttered from the shadows.

I ignored her and thanked the Mayor before leaving the house. It was now time to get back to Kakariko Village, up Death Mountain and get the Fused Shadow.

--

Just as Epona pulled up near the large canyon, Midna popped out of the shadows and stopped us.

"Link, wait! There's something up ahead! ...What do you suppose it could be?"

I looked up and noticed a wave of dust heading toward Kakariko Village. As I got a closer look, I saw those strange green monsters on boars from before, the ones that had kidnapped the kids! In front of them was a larger, white boar with a bigger green monster clad in armor riding it.

They were heading into Kakariko Village to kidnap the kids again!

"Hurry Link, they might kidnap your friends again! You wouldn't want that to happen again, would you?" Midna told me and disappeared into my shadow.

I didn't even need to be told twice. I steered Epona into a gallop and hurried to Kakariko Village, hoping to get there in time before those monsters kidnapped the kids again.

We came into the village, rounding the corner. I was mad, really mad. I was going to teach those monsters the big mistake they made in crossing that line.

The bigger monster, the leader apparently, held Colin up toward me, beckoning me to follow him.

Angrily, I grit my teeth and rushed after him on Epona. He was dead meat.

We followed him out the other entrance to the village, the one where Epona came in. She easily cleared the gate and we hurried after him.

The ogre was waiting for us, and had Colin tied to a long wooden pole. We were now in a different area of Hyrule Field. There was the wall of twilight not very far from us. There was also a castle encased within it, which I assumed then was Hyrule Castle.

The other beckoned to me with his hand, and I drew my sword. I was ready to fight him. He then took out a horn and blew into it.

Over the small rise near the wall of twilight, a bunch of the ogre's cronies came running toward us on their boars. Some of them had clubs and others had fire arrows. Great, I had to deal with them too.

The ogre then rode away, and I steered Epona to follow after him. I was not going to let him get away! He was obviously using his cronies as a distraction so that I would lose sight of him.

We managed to catch up to the ogre and I let my sword have it's say, slashing at him. Some of his armor would fall off periodically. At least it made him more susceptible to damage.

Unfortunately, the other monsters caught up to us, surrounding us. I had to get by them, so I slashed at a few of them with my sword, working my way past them to catch up with their leader.

I caught up to him again and slashed my sword at him, ripping off more of his armor. This time, he faltered back, stunned.

After a moment, he regained himself and his boar went off toward a nearby bridge. There was a blockade of logs at the entrance in the archway on both sides. I figured the boar would crash into it, but it leaped right over it. Epona chased after them and also leaped over the blockade. Good thing too, otherwise the pointed ends of the logs would've done a number on us.

Once we cleared the blockage, I noticed a monster standing on a ledge of the bridge, and it fired a fire arrow at the wooden blockade, setting the logs on fire and preventing us from escaping.

The ogre was stationed at the other end of the bridge, facing us. The logs on his side were on fire too, so even if we did get past him, we couldn't go that way either.

I was nervous about this, since one wrong move could send us flying into the black chasm below us. The bridge was pretty narrow and had no supports on either said.

"Be careful, Link!" Midna said from the shadows. To my surprise, she sounded genuinely worried.

The ogre's boar pawed at the ground, snorted, reared and then came running at us. Epona followed his example and ran at them also. I had to be careful since Epona was no match for the over-sized boar.

It was jousting match now.

Just as we came close to the ogre and his boar, Epona leaped over to the side and I slashed at him with my sword. The ogre let out a roar of pain, but regained himself. I turned Epona around and we ran at them again.

I readied my blade, ready to deliver a final blow to him once he passed us. Epona nearly got hit, but she leaped gracefully to the side and I slashed at the green ogre really roughly. This time, he went flying off his boar and into the chasm below.

Looking down into the chasm where the monster fell, Epona then whinnied in triumph and reared back. I felt really heroic this time, since I saved someone I cared for. I raised my sword above my head as we performed a dramatic, heoric pose, with the wall of twilight right behind us.

"Quit with the dramatic poses, already! Get the kid!" Midna yelled from the shadows.

Colin!

The wooden pole holding Colin had fallen onto the ground as the boar was running off. I jumped off Epona and hurried to fetch him. I cut the binds with my sword and checked Colin's pulse. Midna popped out of the shadows, checking him over for any injuries.

"Is he okay?" She asked.

I nodded. "I think he's all right. Come on, we better take him back to the village and see what happened."

Midna nodded and disappeared into my shadow. I carefully picked up Colin and seated him against me on Epona. We then rode back to the village.

--

As we came riding back into the village, the kids were waiting for us outside the sanctuary with Renado and Luda, who had apparently heard of the commotion.

I carefully brought Colin down from Epona, holding him as everyone gathered around to see if he was all right.

"Link...! Please tell me Colin will be okay!" Beth said, on the verge of tears.

"What happened?" I asked no one in particular.

"Colin...he...he pushed me out of the way when those monsters came back to kidnap us... He pushed me aside and they captured him instead!" Beth explained.

So that's what had happened. Colin was trying to be brave, and in doing so he saved Beth and got himself captured instead of her. I couldn't believe it, he actually did it. He was brave.

I gently ran my hand along Colin's forehead and he opened his eyes slowly as he came to.

"Link..." He murmured. "Is everyone...OK?"

Everyone had gathered around us, looking down at Colin with relief and admiration. Especially Beth, since she was smiling at him fondly. Malo even looked like he admired Colin more than before.

"...Good." He smiled, and then looked at Beth. "Beth... I'm sorry, you know...for shoving you. Are you mad?"

Beth looked a bit surprised at the question, but she smiled and shook her head. Even someone like Beth wouldn't get mad for that, being shoved had saved her life after all.

Relieved, Colin turned back to me. "I... I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link..." He lifted his arm into the air, curling his fingers into a fist. "He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave..."

Colin then let his arm drop to his side, since he was pretty tired and weak from his injuries. "Link... You saved me, didn't you?"

I smiled in reply.

"You... You can do anything." Colin went on. "You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you, Link?"

I gave him a nod.

He tried to smile, and then he passed out from exhaustion. Poor kid, he had a pretty rough time, and needed rest.

Beth and the rest of the kids gasped, hoping he wasn't dead or hurt. Talo came forward and tried to help Colin onto his back, but he wasn't strong enough. Renado solved that problem, he came and picked Colin up. I stood and he nodded toward me before heading over to the inn, where the kids followed suit.

I turned around, and looked toward Death Mountain with determination. I was ready to go up there and face the Gorons.

--

As we were on our way to Death Mountain, Talo mentioned to us that Malo had turned the abandoned general store into his own little shop. That surprised me, but just to humour him, I went inside to take a look.

Something in stock caught my eye, it was a Hylian shield. It was made of metal, likely to prove being more handy than a wooden shield. So I bought it and had Midna store my old one in her helm, much to her displeasure.

Then we went up to the Death Mountain trail where I climbed up the mesh netting along the wall. Sure enough, the Goron guard from before was still there, and he saw us.

"Ho! You are back again, human? You will never pass! You cannot hope to match our brute force!"

The Goron rolled into a ball and came rolling at me. I managed to slip into the iron boots and I braced myself, ready to grab him.

He came at me, and I pushed him back, the iron boots preventing me from being pushed away. I grabbed the Goron's back and hurled him off the ledge where he went hurling down and out of sight.

Feeling triumphed, I took off the boots and continued up the trail. Four more Goron guards had come rolling at us, but I managed to take care of them.

We came to where the Howling stone was, and there were a few of those monster goblins around, shooting arrows. I noticed Hawk grass growing around, so I used that to summon the hawk and took care of the monsters.

Soon we came to the crater, where a few more Gorons were standing guard. Up above a few ledges, I noticed two more Gorons. They noticed me, and one of them curled up into a defensive postion. The other climbed on top of the rolled up Goron, and then the rolled up Goron popped open, sending the other Goron up onto a ledge above them and through a doorway.

Why did I have the feeling we'd need to do that?

There were volcanic eruptions occurring, with volcanic rocks landing around. If we weren't careful, they'd hit us.

Before I could go any further, this long and enormous shaped molten lava rock came shooting down, plunging into the ground. If I had been a bit closer, I would've been done for.

Midna popped out of the shadows after this had happened. "Whoa... This looks dangerous... Is this the traditional Death Mountain welcome? Ee hee!"

"I see nothing funny about this." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh Link, at least it didn't hit you! Ee hee! It looks pretty hot. I wonder what's going on with the mountain..." She murmured, and then disappeared into my shadow again.

I went over to a Goron guard, who advanced on me. He threw a punch, but I deflected it with the Shield Attack. The Goron was caught off guard, and I poked him in the stomach with my sword. He rolled into a defensive position.

Getting an idea I'd seen earlier, I climbed onto his back. The Goron must've felt me doing that because he shot up and we went rolling up safely on the upper ledge.

As we went up higher, we had to use a few more Goron "elevators", and then we came to the entrance to the inside of the mountain. So we went inside.

Inside the room we came into was a sumo wrestling ring, and there were a few Gorons standing around it. Up ahead was another entrance to another room, and there were two Gorons standing guard, blocking the way.

The Gorons caught sight of me and immediately rolled into defensive positions, ready to roll at me. I braced myself, but then a loud voice rang through the room.

"ENOUGH!"

All the Gorons immediately uncurled. The two Goron guards parted respectfully as a Goron came into the room from the other doorway.

He must have been important, probably their leader. He looked old, and had some hair on his head.

"Is this young one such an imposing enemy that you must all gang up on him? I think not, Little Brothers." He said to the Gorons.

Cautiously, I approached him.

"I am a Goron Elder, little human." The Goron elder explained. "I am called Gor Coron. Because of certain...circumstances, I must lead the Goron tribe in place of Darbus, our tribal patriarch. Tell me, little human, do you come from the village below? You have done well to come this far. You are strong...for a human. However..." He crossed his arms. "The mines beyond here are sacred to my tribe. Outsiders are not allowed. Unless..."

I gave him a fearless stare, showing him that I wasn't afraid. I would get past him somehow.

Gor Coron then smiled. "I could make an exception...but you would have to beat me in a contest of power. Are you willing to try that, little human?"

I nodded. I was ready for anything.

So then we stepped into the ring, where I switched into the iron boots. Funny how no one seemed to notice that I had changed my shoes.

And here we go.

It was a tough match since fighting a Goron wasn't the same as fighting Mayor Bo. Luckily, with the iron boots, I still wasn't pushed around as easily. There were times I was nearly pushed out of the ring, but I managed to push the elderly Goron away.

Once he was close to the edge, he threw a slap at me, but then I ducked, and grabbed him, pushing him to the edge and out of the ring. I was tired by now, but pleased with myself.

"Young warrior..." Gor Coron gasped, still on the ground. "You have a strong will...and sharp eyes." He then stood up. "Fine traits... Want to see how well you can use them?"

I took off my iron boots and we went over near the opposite doorway where Gor Coron explained the situation at hand.

"You have seen it, I would bet... The Mountain, erupting without pause... When the mountain began to rage, all four of us elders and Darbus, our patriarch, went inside to investigate its anger. We have a treasure that was entrusted to us by the spirits, and we must protect it. Do you understand? But the moment Darbus reached out and touched the treasure...everything went wrong. He collapsed...and before our very eyes transformed into an unspeakable monster! He began to rage through the mines, trailing ruin behind him...and the eruptions grew more frequent and more severe. We used all our strength to seal him deep inside the mountain... It...grieved us to do this to our patriarch...but we had no other course of action. I ask this favour of you, young warrior... Go to the aid of Darbus! Make no mistake, the spirits have guided you here. I, Gor Coron, need your help... On behalf of my entire clan, I ask you for your aid!" Gor Coron turned to the two guards. "...You two! Let the young warrior pass."

The two Goron guards immediately parted, revealing the way into the mines.

With that, we were sent on our way into the Goron Mines.


	12. Goron Mines

Oh Goddesses.

HOT! The Goron Mines were really really HOT!

"Jeez!" I heard Midna complain from the shadows. "Is this a mine or a volcano? How can the Gorons stand this heat?!"

I shrugged, wiping sweat off my forehead. "I don't know, I guess the heat doesn't affect them as much since they're made of rock and all."

There were pools of lava just about everywhere, making it impossible to get too comfortable with the temperature in this place. But we had to get the Fused Shadow and I wasn't about to let the intense heat stop me.

Along the way, we found something pretty neat. There were these strange blue-green surfaces on the walls that were magnetic, so when I used my iron boots on them, I was able to walk on them, which resulted it walking along the walls and ceilings. It was pretty cool, but I had to be careful so I wouldn't slip out of the boots when I was upside down. They also hurt my ankles a bit. Ow.

We also came to the other three Goron Elders, who were stationed in various rooms of the mines.

The first Goron Elder we came to was a little guy, with steam coming out of his back and hunched over with a cane. We went over to him and he looked up to see with me slight surprise.

"Ah... I thought I felt a presence...but what a surprise to find a young human... Word has come to me of you...and if Gor Coron has faith in you, then your heart must be true. ...I am one of the four Goron elders, Gor Amato is my name. You are heroic, young human. Please, you must lend this tribe your power." He then handed me this strange-looking object, which he later explained was a key shard.

"That is one of the key shards that, when merged together, form the key to the room where Darbus is being held. He is our patriarch. The key is split into three pieces. Each of us elders keeps a piece. You must hurry to the other elders!"

So with the key shard in hand, I thanked him and we went on our way.

Oh, and guess who we found in the same room as this guy? Ooccoo. I don't know how she got in here, but I took her with us anyway, just in case.

There was actually a couple of water sources in the mines, we found. Even if I had to go under with the help of the iron boots from time to time. It was pretty refreshing from all the hot boiling lava.

We later came to the second Goron Elder. This guy was taller, skinnier, and pretty hunched over. He also had a corncob pipe, for some reason.

"Oh... Ah... The young human. I am pleased to see you make it this far, Brudda... I am one of the four elders of the Goron tribe. I am called Gor Ebizo. You have heard of the plight of our patriarch. Otherwise you would not have come to see me. Here, take this, Brudda..." He then gave us his half of the key shard before continuing. "Now... There is one more shard, but seeing you has reminded me of the dangers that line the path to it... There is something that may help you... A weapon said to have been left in this mine by a hero of old. It is beyond price, and so we have protected it through generations... Now, when our tribe balances on the brink of ruin, it could aid in our salvation. The Hero's weapon is stored safely up ahead... Talk to the guard and take it with you, with the blessing of the Gorons."

Hero's weapon? That sounded like it could be of help to us. I wondered what it was. I thanked the Goron elder and we left the room to go find the said weapon.

I wonder if the old Hero he was referring to might be the Hero of Time...

Anyway, we soon came into this room with a large, round platform held by chains above a pool of boiling lava. The surface of the platform was the magnetic rock.

There was a Goron in armor sitting on the opposite ledge against the platform, who stood up in surprise as he saw us approach.

"Whoa... Human?! What business does a human have coming here?! None! No business! This is a forbidden place! I will protect this treasure from you!"

He thought we were trying to steal the treasure! In fact, he didn't even wait for me to explain why were here, since he jumped onto the platform, causing it to break from its chains and fall into the pool of lava, where it floated. I had to get into the iron boots to keep from losing my balance.

The Goron guard then moved to punch me, and suddenly I had an idea. I drew my sword and poked him a few times in the stomach. He rolled into a defensive position and with the help of the iron boots, I grabbed him and hurled him into the lava.

He squealed in pain and bobbed up and down on the lava before landing back on the platform, where I had to repeat the process.

After doing that two more times, he landed back on the platform and his helmet popped off his head. To our surprise, he had a pretty tiny head!

He sat up after regaining himself, pretty breathless. "Ugh... That...hurt a lot. Who knew that humans were capable of such feats of strength..." He stood up and looked a bit guilty then. "...Uh... Maybe...you are...going to see the patriarch of our tribe?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's why I'm here. I've come under the request of Gor Coron and the other Goron elders to save your patriarch."

"...Ah! So THAT is why you are here! In that case, take the weapon of the Hero of the past... But in exchange, you must save the patriarch of our tribe!"

The lava level was raised back up, so I was able to reach the other side of the room on the platform.

Inside the other room was a treasure chest sitting up ahead. I went over to it and lifted the lid, the Hero's weapon was a bow with a quiver of arrows. I'd never used them before, but I knew how they worked. With the new weapon in hand, we continued on our way.

Later on we came to the last Goron elder, who looked more like a tiki than a Goron, his name was Gor Liggs.

"Ah! You are here at last!" He greeted, standing up from his sitting position. "I heard that you might pay a visit, young human. I am farsighted in all things. Here you go...the last key shard! Combine all three shards!"

He gave us his piece of the key shards, and we combined them into the key. It was round, tubular and a strange shape, but it was the key all right.

"If you use that key, you can open the room where Darbus, the tribal patriarch, is being held. Who knows how powerful Darbus is in his new grotesque form... But I suppose I should trust your power, considering you came this far... Hurry, now! To the patriarch's room!"

I thanked him for the key shard and then we were sent on our way.

Before long, after conquering a few more puzzles and monsters, we finally came to the large, heavily locked door that could only be where Darbus was being held. Using the newly-made key, we entered the room.

Inside the room, chained at the wrists and ankles, was a huge, black monster. He was breathing loudly, appearing to be asleep.

"Is this the Goron's patriarch?" Midna remarked, popping out of the shadows. "He sure doesn't look like a Goron! Looks like the Fused Shadow really changed his form..."

I studied the monster for a moment, when suddenly, a jewel lit up on his forehead and his glowing red eyes came open. He roared at us, and then realized he was in chains.

Before I could do anything, his entire body was on fire! He then effortless ripped the chains and freed himself.

"Link!" Midna shouted from the shadows. "That jewel on his forehead is definitely his weak point, use your new toy to shoot it!"

I took her advice and drew my bow, trying to avoid the monster's blows of swinging the chains still attached to his shackles.

Once I was at a good distance, I shot the jewel with an arrow. Sure enough, the monster faltered in pain, wandering around the room.

"Now what? I don't think an arrow is going to cut it. I'm going to have to use my sword on it." I said. "But I can't reach it!"

"Trip him up!" Midna told me. "He'll fall down and you'll be able to reach the jewel! Use your iron boots!"

With that in mind, I quickly grabbed one of the chains attached to his ankles, pulling as hard as I could with the help of the iron boots. Sure enough, the monster roared in surprise and fell down on his stomach, the fire surrounding his body going out.

I took off the boots and rushed around to his front where I stabbed the jewel with my sword a few times before he stood back up, re-igniting his body of fire.

Now that I knew what to do in order to defeat him, I had to repeat this process two more times.

For good measure, I performed the ending blow on the jewel and sent the blade of the sword deep in his forehead.

The monster roared in pain, swinging its chains around as it thrashed about, before clutching his head and letting out one final agonizing roar before the jewel shattered and his body become Twilight squares. A darkened form fell from the monster, which I assumed was Darbus.

The Twilight squares then formed into an object, the Fused Shadow. It slowly floated down toward us, and Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Ee hee hee! Well done!" She took the Fused Shadow with her hand hair. "Now we have two Fused Shadows... Hmm... You know, you've been very helpful so far, so as a reward, I'll tell you an interesting story." She paused a moment before continuing. "Zant. That's the name of the King of Darkness who cast this pall of shadows over your world. He's very strong. You would be nothing to him in your current state... But Zant will never be my king! I have nothing but scorn for his supposed strength. Not that your Zelda is much better... It still appalls me that this world of light is controlled by that princess. A carefree youth, a life of luxury... How does that teach duty? ...But I guess I shouldn't begrudge her the circumstances of her life. She didn't choose it, after all. And I would never wish harm on her... No, as long as I can get my hands on the Fused Shadows, I'll be just fine."

Midna then floated over a few inches and created a portal on the ground. "Well, just one more left... Shall we? Ee hee hee!"

Before stepping into the portal, I went over to see if Darbus was all right. He moaned a bit about how his head hurt and that he didn't remember anything. He seemed to be all right, so I went over to the portal and stepped in, leaving the mines.


	13. Journey to Lake Hylia

Don't you just love the unexpected surprises in the game? X3

I think I might've thought I did something wrong when the bridge was lit on fire, especially when I went to jump into the lake. I thought I'd die, but it was all I could do! But now I know you're supposed to do that.

I wonder, could we still land in the lake if we jumped off the bridge after that part? I don't know. XD

Oh my God, I am in love with Queen Rutela's theme music. It's so beautiful! It sounds a lot like the Song of Healing demo music score from _Majora's Mask_, only it's composed differently!

And by the way, I'll never know what the letter say since SOMEONE didn't read them. (Grumble grumble...)

Oh, and the icicle thing was inspired by Ferngirl's fanfiction. X3

Anyway, let us move on. :D

--~~--

In the spirit's spring, my body dematerialized back to normal before the spirit Eldin's golden voice rang out.

"Heroic Link... North of here, across the plain and past the great stone bridge, in the lands guarded by the spirit Lanayru... You shall find one who you seek..."

I assumed it was talking about Ilia, since I was still looking for her. Well that's good, I was glad to finally have some kind of lead as to where I could find her.

At the corner of my eye, I noticed everyone standing outside the sanctuary and turned around.

Colin weakly stepped forward, and then came over to me. "Link..."

He took a few steps and fell to his knees, probably still weak from before. I hurried over to him and knelt down at his level, making sure he was all right.

"Ilia..." Colin mumbled, and looked up at me. "You've got to save Ilia! Those monsters left me with the other kids, but they must have taken her somewhere else!"

That surprised me, even if somehow I expected that since she wasn't here. Then again, another possibility could have been that she'd run away to go get help, but even that seemed unlikely.

My attention averted back to Colin as he went on.

"Whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I would think of you and Ilia and hold on, Link..." He then managed to stand up and he smiled. "See? I... I'm fine now."

I couldn't help but smile at him then as I stood up, he was really becoming such a brave kid. He was strong, I could tell.

"Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Link?"

I nodded, I did remember. Most people heard that kind of thing from young children, it was pretty sweet.

"_When I grow up, I'm going to be just like you, Link!_"

"So you don't have to worry about me anymore! Go help Ilia!"

"Leave the children to me." Renado said as he came over to us. "I will watch over them, I swear it. Do not let their fates trouble you. Go to those who need you." He paused for a moment before continuing. "In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the ancient hero...and your deeds bring them all to mind. May the graces of the great goddesses who shaped Hyrule bear you on your way."

Renado then bowed slightly, with Luda, Beth and Talo following suit.

With determination, I nodded to them and we were sent on our way.

I had left Epona near the Spring, so I mounted her and headed to leave through the other entrance, the way I went when chasing that ogre who kidnapped Colin, when I noticed a Goron standing outside of Barnes' bomb shop. He greeted me as "Brother" and told me that he had just delivered some ingredients to Barnes so he could make some bombs.

Hmm...

I entered the store and bought a bomb bag filled with some bombs. They'd probably come in handy later on. Barnes also said I could combine the bombs with my arrows, to explode things at a distance and was going to send me a letter with the details.

I took the bomb bag and thanked him before leaving the shop.

Mounting on Epona, we left town and headed north toward the wall of Twilight, the final fragment.

As we came out into Hyrule Field, we were stopped by the Postman who delivered a couple of letters. One was from Ooccoo and the other was from Barnes. Wow, that was fast.

We continued on along the plain and went across the Bridge of Eldin, where the little jousting match had taken place earlier.

Once crossed, I could see that there was a path blocked by some rocks, probably caused by a landslide or something. I stopped Epona at a distance, dismounted, went to place a bomb against the rocks, and then backed away as the bomb exploded and got ride of the rocks.

"Link! The bridge!" Midna suddenly yelled from the shadows.

I turned around and saw what had happened. A portal had opened up above the bridge, and a good portion of it, well over fifty feet had been dissolved into Twilight squares and rose into the portal. On top of that, three shadow beasts fell out for us to take care of. Great.

Well, may as well take care of them now before any unfortunate passerby runs into them.

I drew my sword and ran back to the bridge.

"Link, what are you doing?!" Midna suddenly said, popping up from the shadows. "You never fought them as a human before! How are you going to take them down at once?"

"Don't worry Midna, I have an idea." I told her.

"Well... If you say so, ee hee hee!" She disappeared into my shadow.

I went over to the shadow beasts and killed one nearest me, things were going as planned. The other two advanced on me, and I performed the spin attack on them, destroying them both. They all dissolved into Twilight squares and created a portal. It was useless since it was positioned right above the big gap.

Oh well.

I mounted Epona and we continued on past where the rock landslide had been, passing a few bulblins who had the nerve to shoot arrows at us, but I managed to take them down with my arrows.

Finally, we came to the wall of twilight. I left Epona at a distance from it so she wouldn't get pulled into it, and dismounted.

Midna then popped out of the shadows. "Ah, we're finally here. There's only one Fused Shadow left... ...So this is the last of the twilight you'll see, I guess. Whether or not you accomplish your final task and survive is up to you... Ee hee! So what will you do?"

She disappeared back into my shadow and I went to approach the wall of twilight. No turning back now, we've made it this far and had only one fragment of twilight and one Fused Shadow left. It was time to finish what we started.

On the other hand, I felt a part of me almost dread the idea. What would happen after this was over?

I shook my head to rid the thought. No use thinking of it now, we were far from it.

Midna drew herself from the shadows again.

"Want me to lead you into the twilight?"

I nodded.

She floated in through the wall, causing a ripple, and like before, her twilight hand hair shot out and grabbed me, pulling me through.

I landed on my stomach on the other side of the wall, and then stood up. Just like before, I transformed into a wolf shortly after. Midna then plopped onto her old seat on my back.

"All right then, I guess I'll have to help you! But what a shame that this is the last of the twilight... I had become so fond of seeing it cover this world... Or...is it really the last you'll see? Ee hee! So, shall we get going?" She nudged my ribs with her tiny heels, tapping my back to prove her point.

I let out a wolf sigh and continued down the path ahead of us. I did wonder what she meant by that, about it being the last of the twilight I'd ever see.

As we went further down, I noticed something on the ground. When I got a closer look, I saw that it was Ilia's leg holster. She was definitely here and must've dropped it. Perfect, now I could use that to get her scent and track her down.

I sniffed the holster, gathering Ilia's scent. As I did, I remembered what she'd said the last time I saw her, before she and the kids were kidnapped by those monsters.

"_But, Link... Can you at least promise me this? Just come home safely."_

"You smell the girl, don't you?" Midna suddenly said. "I can tell by the look on your face. Well, good. It's another clue, then. But this scent could be quite old...I wonder if she is still all right? Ee hee!"

I growled at her slightly. How dare she say such a thing!

"Link, I was just kidding." Midna said, rolling her eyes. "Jeez, calm down! ...Still, I guess I can't blame you. I'd feel the same way."

Well, she did have a point. The scent was a few days old, and since you could never be too careful these days...

I didn't want to think about that now. So instead we continued down the path as I followed Ilia's scent.

Not far from where we found her holster, I came to a stop as we came to the path leading out to another plain. Up ahead was Hyrule Castle, which was surprising to see up close since I'd only seen it from the rooftops.

"Hey, haven't we seen this castle before? Eee hee hee! So, we finally made it back here! Well, only a little farther, so hang in there! Or so I'd like to say, but... The going's a lot harder from here on out... Eee hee hee! All right, then... Let's get started."

I continued following Ilia's scent into the plain ahead of us, and over a small bridge. The strange twilit monster birds followed us, but I managed to get past them.

After turning a bend, we soon came to a drawbridge over a moat that was leading into Castle Town, the town that Rusl said surrounded Hyrule Castle. Ilia's scent was leading into Castle Town, so we went in there.

There were a lot of spirits going around as we came into town, it was huge! But that didn't matter now, I had to find Ilia. I was a bit less panicked now since I figured she was safe here in town, among people and likely to have been taken in by someone.

We continued following her scent, which soon led to a building with a sign that read it was a Medic Clinic, but her scent was also leaving the place, so we followed it down the road and soon came to a door in a back alley down some stairs.

A sign said "Telma's Bar". What was Ilia doing in a bar?

The door was slightly ajar, so I nudged it open with my nose and went inside.

Inside the bar, I honed my senses. A group of spirits, guards were standing by a table at the back. Near us to the left, I noticed a plump but muscled woman standing next to a makeshift bed with a fluffy white cat was at her heels. Sitting next to the bed was Ilia, who was looking down sadly at a young boy laying on the bed. The boy appeared to be human, but he had fish features. I believe he was a Zora, the fish people tribe of Hyrule.

I was relieved to see that Ilia was safe, albeit she looked worried about the Zora boy. I wished I could tell her that we were here to help her, but I couldn't. We were in twilight and she couldn't see us.

"This boy... Can you save him?!" Ilia asked the woman.

"All right, little lady, try to settle down, OK?!" The woman replied, trying to soothe her. "I just now sent for the doctor. But this is strange… A child of the Zoras… I wonder if this is at all related to the incident the soldiers were talking about in back…"

"Aw, what an emotional reunion! Yes, a girl and her wolf! Eee hee! Sorry, but you know how it goes! These folks can't see you, either… Eee hee hee!" Midna teased.

I ignored her and went over to the back table, listening to one of the guards that was speaking.

"We've had a ton of complaints from citizens who can't send prayers to the spring spirit of Lake Hylia. Go there! The location is the one I showed you on the map earlier! Got it?!"

I peered down at the map on the table, there was a small mark where the spirit's spring was in Lake Hylia. I could see that Lake Hylia wasn't very far from here in Castle Town, we'd get there in no time.

With not much else to do, we left the bar and headed out of town to get to Lake Hylia.

--

It didn't take us very long, we soon came to the Great Bridge of Hylia. There was also a sign advertising some carnival attractions on the lake.

We went over to the fence and peered down to the lake. Strange, it looked like there wasn't a lot of water down there. There was a hut down there, which looked more like a toy.

We probably had to cross the bridge and make our way down from there, so I started to run across the bridge, not noticing that my paws were stepping in something wet.

Midna then stopped me.

"...Hey, do you smell anything funny?"

I didn't know what she was talking about, but a strange scent hit my nose. I sniffed along the ground of the bridge, and realized it was all coated with oil. That's what the strange smell was.

Sensing a presence up ahead, I crouched low and growled.

A twilit bulblin archer was at the end of the bridge opposite from us. It then shot a fire arrow high above us, landing on the other side of the bridge. The fire caught the oil and started to spread! The monster then shot another fire arrow at the oil near the entrance it was standing at, spreading fire from there too.

The fire was closing in on us, and I knew that oil was highly flammable.

"Oh no! We're trapped! Ge out of here!" Midna cried in panic.

But how? We couldn't go either way because of the fire, and the walls of the bridge were too high for us to climb.

That's when I spotted a couple of crates nearby. I realized we had no other choice. We had to jump into the lake.

I went over to the nearest crate, pushing it against the wall with my shoulder. We climbed onto it and peered down into the lake below. I hesitated, since I'd never jumped from such a high height.

Just as I could feel the fire closing in a lot closer to us from behind, I jumped.

Midna grabbed hard onto my neck to keep from falling as we went down...down...down. I let out a terrified howl as we careened down toward the lake.

I'd be screaming if I was in my human form.

And then...

SPLASH!

We had landed in the water, just as planned. I kicked for the surface and we popped up, both of us gasping for air.

"Phew... That was a close one." Midna said in relief, panting slightly. We're lucky there was a puddle down below, huh? So this is Lake Hylia... But there's so little water... At any rate, let's take a look around. Come on. Let's go."

As I swam for sure, I realized she was right. There really was so little water. It barely qualified as a lake.

Still, despite that, something wasn't right.

A few spirits were standing near the shore of the water, Zora people. They were mumbling about how the lake had somehow dried up and that it was impossible to get back to their home, Zora's Domain.

Hmm, so that lake WAS dried up. What could have happened?

We went over to the strange house, which I could see now was meant to float on the water. Since there was barely any water, it was grounded.

There was a short, pot-bellied man wearing weird clothes and a hat standing near the hut.

"Hurrrm... I'm too old for this... Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fascination... It's our grand reopening at our new lake-bottom location... Whee. Hurrrm... Yeah, nice lake... Don't lakes more...I don't know...water? Did the Zoras who live upriver do something? Or is it a curse from that spirit that floats around up there?" He looked up to where we guessed was the spirit's spring. "Whatever. It's not like I can go up and complain... That's way too high."

Suddenly he looked off some yards away near the shore. Someone or something was walking around, but I couldn't quite make it out.

"Whuzzat, a customer?! YIKES! IT'S A MONSTER!"

He cowered in fear and I realized he was right, it was twilit bulblin.

We had nothing else to do or any kind of leads as to what happened in causing the lake to dry up, so we went off toward toward the bulblin.

It saw us coming, and then suddenly went over to a patch where familiar-looking grass grew. The monster plucked a piece and blew into it. I then realized that it was Hawk grass!

Oh no, what kind of bird would come in answering the call?

The loud flapping of wings was heard above us, and a twilit Kargorok that was much bigger than others we'd seen came flying down toward us. It had a saddle on its back, which the bulblin jumped onto, taking control of the monster bird.

"Coward!" Midna said from my back. "He's using the bird to fight its battle for him! Quick, attack the bird so that he'll fall off it, Link!"

I wasn't sure how I'd do that, since the bird was flying too high for me to reach it, even with my wolf abilities.

While dodging fire arrows shot by the bulblin, the bird swooped down at us, and I took a chance, leaping at its throat and gnawing it. It struggled and then I let go, waiting for it to swoop in again as we dodged the arrows.

The monster bird swooped down again, and I leaped at its throat again, sinking my teeth in and shaking it for good measure. Sure enough, the bulblin fell off the saddle and I leaped in to kill it before it could do anything else.

But there was still the bird, we had to do something about it.

Before I could move, Midna flew off my back and landed on the saddle. The bird struggled and tried to buck her off, sensing that she wasn't the one who called it.

"Hey! Stop it!" Midna scolded it, raising her twilight hand hair as she calmed it down. "I'm your new master now! Settle down! Hey! Why don't we use this guy to get us all the way to the lake's water source?"

Well, we had no other options and this bird could most likely carry both of us up the river, it would work.

Midna guided the bird to swoop down and scoop me up by my shoulders in its talons and we were on our way. I did feel slightly nervous about falling, but the bird knew what it was doing, and it had Midna to guide it.

It was actually kind of fun.

So we flew up the river, which wasn't very easy. The river way was a gap between two large cliffs, and the bird's giant wings barely brushed the sides. Along the way, twilit goblins were perched along the cliff, shooting arrows at us. We were going too fast for them to get an accurate aim, but they did have a method in attempting to slow us down.

They shot bomb arrows at stalactites located around the cliffsides, but luckily Midna managed to guide the bird along with its own instincts away from the falling terrors.

The bird didn't drop me, thankfully. I'd glanced down a few times, and boy it looked like a long, terrifying drop. If there'd been water, it wouldn't have been so bad since we'd be swept downriver.

It was a Twilit Cargo Game.

Finally, we emerged from the river cavern and the bird dropped me onto the ground, where Midna plopped down onto my back. The bird flew off away until it disappeared from sight.

This was Upper Zora's River, I believe. We were where the Zoras resided. Near us was a boathouse, with a bridge that was pretty useless since it was meant to be over water. The spirit of a woman was sitting on the steps, complaining about the cold.

"Ah... We're already here?!" Midna exclaimed. "That bird turned out to be more useful than I expected. Well, then... Where's the village of the Zoras? Let's look for it. It's getting cold... Hurry up!"

She was right, it was pretty cold. That struck me pretty odd since it usually wasn't that cold, and we were up a river, weren't we?

I leaped down onto the ground, and something was wrong. Not only was there barely any water, since I could see it was meant to be part of the river, but it had snow and ice.

How did snow and ice form here? It was never cold enough to snow in Hyrule, and the only snow region around was in the mountains, I heard.

With nowhere else to go, we followed the river route, and then came to Zora's Domain, where the Zora's lived.

But for some inexplicable reason, it was frozen! No wonder it was cold and there was no water going down river, the place was frozen solid. Unbelievable.

Midna was thinking the same thing and was just as confused as I was. "Oh... Hey... What's going on here? I thought it was getting colder...but who would have thought that it would all be frozen?! This is the Zora village, right? Why don't I see any, then... Well... Anyway, let's check things out. Let's find the Zoras..."

There were definitely no Zoras around, and that didn't make sense. This was their home, but where were they? Did they all flee?

Most of all, what had happened?

Our only source to get around was to climb what appeared to be a frozen waterfall.

With Midna's usual helping along technique, we jumped up the waterfall, but I wasn't used to the slippery ice so I fell down a couple of times, much to my embarrassment and Midna's amusement.

As we progressed up, I didn't notice a long, pointed icicle fly down toward me just as I was going to leap to where Midna was. She did and gasped, reaching out her twilight hand hair to knock it away. I nearly fell off the ledge as I started and looked down as the icicle fell and shattered into the snow. Wow, that was a close one.

I looked at Midna as if to say thank you, and then we continued up the waterfall.

We came to the top of the waterfall, and there was a chamber up ahead, which we entered. It was also frozen, save for the base of the room. It was some kind of throne room, I noted.

There were three shadow beasts waiting for us when we got there, so we took care of them and created another portal to use.

"A portal has opened here, too!" Midna remarked. "We can finally warp. If you want to breathe the air of the world of light for a moment, let me know. I'll take you there!"

I have to say, it was nice of her to offer it in a more accommodating way for a change. Midna wasn't so bad after all, I'd gotten used to her in the past while and was liking her a bit more.

Suddenly, she gasped. "Link, look down! Into the frozen ice!"

I did, and noticed there were spirits down below the ice. Honing my senses, I was surprised to see there were Zoras under there, all unmoving. They were trapped under the frozen ice! I didn't know how long they'd been down there, but we had to melt the ice somehow and save them.

"Those... Those are the Zoras! Wow... This is really strange... What in the world happened? Hey... What do you want to do? We can't just leave them like this... I think all we need to do is thaw them out... It does us no good to just stand here thinking... Let's leave and come back later... The portal should work for us. We need to find a way to melt the ice and come back here..." Midna said.

I paused for a minute, thinking of what we could do. How were we going to melt the ice? Even if there was a lit torch and some sticks, it would take forever and we didn't have that kind of time. I couldn't dig my way through the ice either, it was too thick.

We needed something really big, really hot, and really heavy. But where would we find something like that?

Then it came to me.

Death Mountain!

That molten lava rock that had fallen while we were there just hours ago, it was pretty big, hot and heavy. If we could warp that here just like Midna did with the bridge back in Faron Woods, we could melt the ice with it.

I then looked at Midna and snorted to get her attention.

"Huh? What is it?"

I pointed my nose toward Death Mountain, hoping she would understand. I couldn't talk and I wasn't sure how to make gestures with paws. I did try to point with my paw for good measure.

"Oh... So, Death Mountain, huh? All right! Let's go!"

We then warped to Death Mountain using the portal we'd recently gained.

Sure enough, the molten lava rock was still there when we arrived in Death Mountain. It was still daylight out and it felt kind of nice to be back in the world of light, even if I didn't feel much different in the twilight.

I went over to the rock and Midna floated out from the shadows, hovering above it.

"This thing's been here for a while now, but it's still pretty hot..." She remarked.

Midna coated the rock with her twilight magic, like before, and grunted loudly as she made a lifting motion.

The lava rock rose up into the air, dissolved into twilight squares, and disappeared up into the portal, with us following suit.

Sure enough, when we got back into the Throne room, the ice was melted and the water flow was back to normal. All the Zoras had emerged from their previous icy prison, out of breath and exhausted, but alive. Thank the Goddesses we saved them in time.

"Who knew that something so dangerous would come in handy..." Midna remarked. "All right... The Zoras are safe now, so let's go. The ice melted and restored the water flow to normal. Can we finally meet the spirit of Lake Hylia?"

We turned to leave the throne room when suddenly a voice called out to us.

"Wait!"

Huh? But we were in the twilight, how could someone see us?

We turned around, and floating above the water was a ghost. Not a spirit, but actually a ghost. It was a ghost of a female Zora. She was very beautiful and had a very regal, refined look about her. She smiled at us gratefully.

"Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and this spring, which is the water source for all the lands of Hyrule. In life, I was the elder of this Zora village and the queen of my people. I was called Rutela." She said to us.

I walked over to get a better look at the Zora ghost, amazed at how this was happening. It was nice for a change to see that our efforts did go appreciated.

"Not be rude, but we didn't exactly do it for you guys..." Midna told her.

Maybe you didn't, but I did. I wanted to say.

The Zora Queen ignored her comment and continued. "The dark ones... They raided this village, and, as a message to my people, executed me before them. Young man... You who take the form of a proud beast... I have something to ask of you. When the dark ones descended upon our village, I sent my young one, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to inform Princess Zelda of our fate. But...I fear danger followed him from this doomed place. I feel it. His presence grows fainter to me over time... But my time in this world has passed, and though I would give it gladly, I no longer have a life to risk in his rescue. Please... Would you save my dearest, Prince Ralis? If you do this thing, I will bestow upon you the protection of water. This power will grant you the ability to swim and respire in very deep water as if you were a zora. Please... Save my son..."

The ghost of the Zora Queen then faded away.

I wonder, could she have meant the Zora child we saw back in Castle Town? It made sense, she had sent her son to Hyrule Castle, and had said something happened to him. It definitely had to be that same Zora child.

"Hmm..." Midna said thoughtfully, interrupting my train of thought. "So, if we help her, she'll grant you the power to swim in deep water like a Zora, huh? So... What do you say, Hero? ...Oh, but now that I think about it, I don't suppose you should meet the prince as a wolf, huh? Eee hee! So... No hurry to return you to the world of ligtht, then, huh?"

I could tell she was hinting me, since we had some other things to do first. We had to clear the twilight, and since Castle Town was within the Lanayru Province, we couldn't save the Zora prince until we'd cleared it.

We left the throne room and came outside. It was raining, and although the water flow was back to normal, it seemed to have caused the water level to rise and the flow to speed up too.

"Looks like the shock of that impact not only raised the water level, but sped up the flow, too... This water should flow all the way down to the lake. Why don't you let it take you there?"

Good idea.

We rode the waterfall down into the water and let the water carry us downstream. I howled out loudly as the water swept us down the river.

It was really fast, and hard to try to keep my head above the water. We almost would've drowned but we made it through.

Sure enough, we were swept down to the lake, and right at the entrance to the spirit's spring no less. We were so exhausted from the trip that we lay down to rest for a few minutes. On top of that, I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep in the past couple of days either.

By the time I came to, Midna was hovering above one of the steps, waiting for me.

"Ugh... Aren't you awake yet? Look! We got washed all the way down to Lake Hylia. Just as I predicted... And it looks like we're right in front of the spirit's spring, to boot. Talk about lucky... Well, let's go! Snap out of it and get to the spirit!"

Before I could blink, she was on back on my back, and we went inside.

This spirit's spring was different from the other three, since there was a small ledge overlooking a large and deeper spring.

The remains of the spirit was floating above the water in its faint, gold mist.

"I am...the last of the spirits of light...consumed...by twilight... Hero... Chosen by the gods... You have...done well to make it this far... Gather...my scattered Tears of Light... that were stolen by shadow... Gather them...in this..."

We were then given a Vessel of Light before the spirit's faint voice continued.

"I am sure...you know by now...the forms...that these dark insects take...when they steal...our light... In this shadow realm...of twilight...the insects...are invisible...like the humans...of this world... Collect...my light... Lift the final cloud of twilight...that threatens to cover all of Hyrule..."

With the Vessel of Light in hand, we were then sent on our way onto yet another bug hunt.


	14. Lake Hylia

Aw man, the bug hunts are just as tedious as the dungeons! DX But thank God this is the last one I'll ever do.

I remember when I first played and I saw Lanayru, I thought it was a crocodile or alligator, because of the shape of its snout. But now I know that it's some kind of sea serpent. XD

Oh, and you know the part where Lanayru is telling Link about the Legend of Hyrule and the Fused Shadows? Seriously...what was up with the images? I'd seen that cut scene enough times, but even today I don't understand it. I mean, I do to some degree, but then again I just don't get it.

Anyway, here we go.

--~~--

As we exited the spirit's spring, we noticed a bug scampering up the bridge to our left. We followed after it using my senses and took care of it once we came to the plateau that the bridge led to.

There was another bridge leading to another plateau, so we crossed that one. Some bugs were nearby, also.

When we got there, we were ambushed by shadow beasts, so we beat them and created another portal. Good, we could warp back here now.

Then we went upwards, jumping along the gaps that seperated the plateaus and then found a bug buried under the ground. Using my digging, I drew the bug out into the open and killed it, collecting the tear.

We jumped into the water and swam over to the hut that was floating on the water. There was a bug on the wall of the hut. With the help of Midna's energy field, we knocked it down and killed it.

I paused for a moment, and sensed that there were bugs in Zora's Domain and also at Upper Zora's River. I looked over Midna and then pointed my nose toward the waterfall up ahead of us, signaling to go up river. We had to go to Zora's Domain and we would make our way down the river from there.

"Got it, we'll go to Zora's Domain!" Midna said with a nod.

That being said, we then warped to Zora's Domain, and landed in the water in the Throne Room. All the Zoras were okay by now and were floating around in the water or standing near the throne. That was a relief.

There was a bug inside the throne room, so we stepped onto the dry ground and killed it.

Once done in there and sure that none were in the room, we left and went back outside. There was a bug on a lower level near the waterfall, so we made out way down and came to this cavern where the bug was. We killed it and took the tear.

Two bugs were down below on the water near some leaf pads, so we jumped down into the water, swam over to where they were and killed them.

We swam back to shore, and killed a bug that was going up the little hill.

With four more bugs in our arsenal, we went back into the water and went to get down to Upper Zora's River.

There was a Howl Stone perched on a ledge up a small hill. I believe the tune this time was called the Requiem of Spirit. So I howled the song back and was sent back to see where the White Wolf was. Like before, we howled a duet of the song and he told me where to find him next.

Once that was done, we swam across the water to the other side, since that was where the bug was. It was near the boat house where a spirit was sitting, a young woman with a large afro. She reminded me of Coro and looked like him too. Maybe they were related?

"What's...that? A bug?" The woman suddenly said, frightened. "Eww, nasty! Why's it so big?! Golly, I am so sick of roughing it in the boonies!"

A bug had crawled out from its hiding spot, which she had seen and was freaked out about. We took care of it and killed it, taking the tear.

Now what? There bugs along the river leading down to Lake Hylia, but there was no way we would be able to collect the bugs while careening down the river at a fast speed.

Midna must've been thinking the same thing, because she suddenly pointed at some Hawk Grass growing nearby.

"Hey Link, maybe if you blow that grass over there, then that monster bird might come back! We could use it if we're going to get the bugs along the river... Even if you can't blow the grass, maybe you can sit and howl back the same song?"

Of course! The monster bird! It helped us get over the river while we had to make our way up here, so maybe it could help us out again.

It was worth a try. So we went over to the Hawk Grass and I sat down next to it, howling the tune of it, hopefully as close as possible.

"Auuuuu oooooo auuuuu oooooo!"

After a moment, we heard the loud flapping of wings coming toward us. Sure enough, the monster bird from before had answered to the call. It worked!

The bird stooped down at our level, Midna floated up onto the saddle and the bird held me in its talons by my shoulders. It flew toward the river flow and we were on our way.

It was a lot harder going along the river by flight because of the water flow. The twilight bulblins were still there, trying to slow us down, but we managed to get past them.

The bugs along the way were flying, and Midna guided the bird to hit them and collect the tears. If we'd miss one, the same bug would catch up to us, so it didn't matter if we didn't hit one on first sight.

We came back to Lake Hylia and the bird dropped us onto the dock near the waterfall before it flew off, disappearing from sight behind the cliffs.

Now there weren't any bugs near us, and there was two more tears we had to find.

I then sensed where one of them was. Castle Town. But how did it get there?

Midna was probably thinking the same thing I was, so we warped back to Zora's Domain, and then went to Upper Zora's River.

A couple of Zoras were near a flow leading down a cavern with torches lit inside. They said it was where Prince Ralis had gone to go to Hyrule Castle, then they went down the waterway.

Of course! So that Zora child WAS Prince Ralis. We were right after all, that was good to know.

We went down the streaming flow, and came back out in Hyrule Field, near the smaller stone bridge.

When we came to the drawbridge leading to Castle Town, we were ambushed again by shadow beasts, so we took care of them and created another portal. Now we were able to warp back here too!

So we made our way back to into Castle Town, and found the bug near Telma's Bar. We killed it and took the tear.

The door to the bar was still slightly ajar, and I peeked inside for a moment to make sure Ilia and Prince Ralis were still all right. They were waiting for the doctor still, so it looked like the bug hadn't gotten inside. That was good to know.

But there was one problem.

We had to find one more tear, but we couldn't seem to sense the last bug. Where was it?

Suddenly, it came to us in our senses and it was back in Lake Hylia. Well.

We warped back to Lake Hylia, and looked for the bug. It was apparently in the middle of the water somewhere.

Sure enough, there was something moving in the water nearby where some wooden planks were floating. Maybe it was there?

We jumped into the water and swam over to one of the planks, perching onto it. The water then bubbled, very violently, and I tensed, staring hard at the bubbling as we waited for whatever was under there to surface.

Something then emerged from the water, and once I honed my senses, I nearly fell over in disgust. It was some kind of big, ugly Queen bee. It had an enormous body, and small wings that somehow supported it in flight. I heard Midna gagging from my back in repulsion. I didn't blame her.

The big bug swooped in at us, and I dodged by moving to the side.

I wasn't sure how to attack, but since a bug's stomach was usually its weaker point, I lunged in and latched myself onto it's underside, biting at it. The bug wiggled in pain and shook me off.

We landed back on the plank, and the big ugly bug swam around, ripping through the water. I avoided the blow and waited for it to fly into the air and come at us again.

After repeating the process two more times, the bug then resurfaced to the water, floating belly up with its rubbery legs poking out. I leaped onto its stomach, and with the help of Midna's energy field, encased all of the legs within it and slashed at them all.

The bug then curled up, flopped over, and then exploded into the tear. We collected it and were then transported back to the spirit's spring.

With the Vessel of Light full of tears, it disappeared into the water and light cleared away the twilight from this area. We had finally done it, Hyrule was cleared from the twilight.

Midna popped out from the shadows, standing near the ledge of the spring. "You make sure to get that last Fused Shadow, now! Eee hee! See you later!"

She disappeared just as the spirit's spring lit up, and the orb of light rose up from the water. Suddenly, this large, long creature shot up from the water and caught the orb in its jaws, which startled me. The creature swam around in the spring's water, and then rose up to my face, which startled me again.

This light spirit was a sea serpent, and had its orb of light clenched in its jaws.

"My name is Lanayru." It spoke in its golden voice. "Your efforts have at last restored each of us light spirits in Hyrule. O hero chosen by the gods... The dark power that you seek... It waits in a temple set in the bed of Lake Hylia. ...But before seeking it, you must now bear witness to something...and never forget it. You must know it was the will of the goddesses that we lock away the forbidden power..."

Right then, I closed my eyes and suddenly found myself in some kind of a dream-like state.

I was in my former Ordonian clothing, and floating through some kind of endless blackness. Three streams of light flew around me, which were red, blue, and green. I then heard Lanayru's voice speaking.

"When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world. They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens."

The three streams of light then created a small patch of landscape, which stood out in all of the blackness. Near it, stood someone.

I then found myself standing there, near the land, and Ilia was next to me. I was unsure of why she was here in this strange dream, but I guessed it was part of Lanayru's doing. We smiled at one of another, and looked back as the light streams then created a golden relic, which I saw was the symbol of the power of the goddesses, the Triforce. The mark embedded on the back of my left hand. It was so beautiful.

"The lands where the goddesses descended came to be known as the Sacred Realm." I heard Lanayru continue. "For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body... But soon, word of the Sacred Realm spread through Hyrule, and a great battle was ensued..."

Ilia then turned toward me, and her eyes were white and appeared lifeless. She then raised a strange, small dagger toward me. Something came over me and then she gasped, disappearing from sight and the dagger falling to the ground.

The Ordon Sword then struck the ground blade down near me. I saw myself, with lifeless white eyes, running toward the Triforce. My clothing changed into my Hero's Garb as I ran toward the golden relic.

Suddenly, three dark, visible figures rose from the ground, standing before the triforce.

"Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared."

The three dark figures that stood near the triforce all looked toward me, I could see that they looked and dressed like me too, except that they were all dark, except for their red eyes. A strange, large object that towered over them suddenly rose from the ground behind them, blocking the triforce. I didn't know what it was, but I saw that the front of it looked just like the strange mask that Midna wore.

"Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm."

The interlopers then raised their hands toward me, I saw myself gasp and then disappear into dust. The interloper in the middle of the three now REALLY looked like me, with the proper colouring, but the eyes were white and lifeless-looking.

Right then, three orbs of light appeared around them. It was the light orbs of the light spirits.

"It was then that the goddesses ordered us three light spirits to intervene. We sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered."

As Lanayru spoke that, the strange large relic then disappeared back into the ground, which surprised the interlopers. The one in the middle who had taken my form then screamed loudly in agony. And then everything but the landscape patch was gone.

"You know the magic... It is the dark power you seek...the Fused Shadow."

I could see the Fused Shadows, all four pieces including Midna's helmet piece and another piece I hadn't seen before, but I could barely comprehend them, since I was now feeling really dazed.

Then I saw Ilia floating upside down, giggling, but she appeared lifeless, like some kind of a doll.

"O hero chosen by the goddesses... Beware... Those who do not know the danger of wielding the power will, before long, be ruled by it. Never forget that..."

Then there were several Ilias floating downward upside down, all of them were giggling and laughing at the same time.

It was really starting to creep me out now, I wanted to wake up. Come on Link, wake up!

I then suddenly snapped awake, my eyes widened in shock. Feeling dazed and a bit out of it, I collapsed to my knees, panting hard as I tried to regain myself.

"The dark power that you seek is within the sleeping Lakebed Temple of Lake Hylia..." Lanayru's voice sounded out.

Once I'd regained myself after a couple of minutes, I stood up and then left the spring to get back outside.


	15. Journey to Lakebed Temple

OK, am I the only one that thinks Ilia's loss of memory was really useless? Not only does it not make sense, but all it really did was give us more work to do.

I mean, she was hit in the BACK with an ARROW. Um, how exactly does that make you lose your memory? Link was clubbed in the head and yet he woke up and was all "Ow, what just happened?"

Okay, I don't mean to sound like I hate Ilia, because I don't. I'll admit she's not my favourite character, but I don't hate her. I just think that her whole memory loss idea was really useless and didn't make sense. Okay, MAYBE she hit her head and we aren't told of it or something.

But anyway, whatever.

I love Telma, by the way. She's so cool, and reminds me of a cool African-American woman of the story. NO, that was not meant to be racist or offending. But seriously, she's awesome. If the game were a movie, I'd pick Queen Latifah to play Telma, indefinitely.

And Renado just plain rocks. Seriously, he just took a load off our shoulders by looking after the kids and helping Ralis. What a man! He's the best, really.

Hee hee! And I must confess, I like RenadoxTelma. X3

Oh, and the first time when we saw Rutela again at her husband's grave and she told us to tell her son her message, I literally cried. The message she gave about telling her son that she loved him without end, was so sweet. It just proves how a mother's love for her child never ends.

Anyway, on with the story!

--~~--

It was daytime, and the twilight was definitely cleared from the Lanayru Province. Lake Hylia was really pretty, and very peaceful. Off into the distance over some cliffs, I caught sight of long pillars that were strangely shaped at the top. Hmm, I wonder what they were and where they were.

Anyway, we had no way of getting out of here. We couldn't warp or anything at all.

With no other option, I went over to the man at the strange hut to see if maybe he had directions or something. I found out his name was Fyer, and he with his business parnter, Falbi, ran some kind of amusement park business here on the lake.

"Hurrrm? Some of the Zoras are still alive down there?" He mumbled. "I thought maybe they dried up along with the lake... Hey, buddy, have you heard? There's like a temple or something at the bottom of this lake. They put on such airs with all their rituals and fancy temple hoo-ha... Then they just disappear... And what's with putting that temple so deep that humans can't swim there?! I swear, those Zoras..."

I nodded, trying to along. "I know, it's odd. But anyway, can you help me with something, sir? I need to get back to Castle Town and I don't know how to leave Lake Hylia."

Fyer paused, and then realized. "Oh... Are you a customer? Heh heh! You are ONE lucky fella, fella! The HEIGHT of excitement, the THRILL of launching to the heavens, the very PEAK of flying fantastication... It can be YOURS, fella! For a limited time only, and without waiting in line, it's a paltry 10 RUPEES! Whaddya say, buddy of mine? Wanna give it a shot?"

Leave to a businessman to make an exciting sales pitch, I guess.

But anyway, I figured if he could help me out, it was worth a try. So I nodded and paid him with two blue rupees.

"Welcome, fella! And right this way!" Fyer laughed, and then stepped aside to let me step into the room of the hut. The strange, round door then closed.

I heard Fyer cranking some kind of wheel that played really odd circus music, and then-

WHOA!!!! A cannon!!!! This room was a cannon!!!!

Before I could think, I was suddenly shot out from the canon. I yelled out in terror as I went flying toward this house on the ledge of the cliff.

I landed safely on a balcony next to the house, which was on the ledge of the cliff overlooking the ledge. Wow, I never saw that coming!

Midna then popped out of the shadows. "Whoa! That reminds me of something... Didn't the late queen in Zora's Domain ask you to do something? She asked us to find her son! The one who's been missing since he headed for Hyrule Castle... I think she said something about granting you some special power if you rescued him?"

I paused a moment and recalled our encounter with the ghost of Queen Rutela, and remembered that if we helped save her son Ralis, she'd give us some kind of ability to swim like a Zora.

"Yes, I remember." I told her. "She told us that if we saved her son, she'd give us the ability of a Zora, being able to swim and survive under the water just like they can."

"If the final piece of the Fused Shadow is on the bottom of Lake Hylia...then it looks like we're going to need that ability!" Midna said, and then disappeared into my shadow.

There wasn't much in the house we were at, which was full of Hylian chickens known as cuckoos. I then saw a small ledge leading out to go down into the lake, and now I understood. Fyer's business partner Falbi sent people down to the lake and Fyer shot them back up. Smart.

We had to get back to Castle Town and help the Zora Prince, and Ilia also. Now with the twilight cleared, they should've been safe. Maybe after we helped Ralis, we could take Ilia to Kakariko to be with the rest of the children.

So we emerged from the house and came back to where we'd started when we first came through the wall of twilight, near the Great Bridge of Hylia. I noticed Horse Grass growing nearby, so I took some and called Epona.

Once Epona came, I mounted her and we rode on through Hyrule Field to get back to Castle Town.

On the way there, I found the White Wolf sitting perched on a ledge against the moat wall. I approached him and then was sent into the frozen wasteland place where the stalfos ghost warrior, who called himself Hero's Shade, then taught me the next Hidden Skill, the Back Slice. It was a strategic move that was useful for when an enemy was well armored in the front for confrontational attacks, but would result in leaving their rears unprotected. All I'd have to do was roll around to get behind them and let them have it.

After I'd come to, I brought Epona to the drawbridge and her wait for us and went into Castle Town.

I figured they were still in Telma's Bar, so I made my way there and went inside.

We came into the bar, and only a moment after when I heard someone shout.

"That is a Zora child! This is beyond my expertise! Hmmmph!"

Someone then bumped into me, and I saw that it was an old man with round, magnifying glasses. I was pretty surprised at this, and then he left the bar after glancing at me.

"Doctor, wait! If something isn't done, this child will..." Ilia cried, running to the door. It was too late, the doctor was gone.

I looked at her in surprise, and she turned away without seeing me.

"Ilia..." I said softly.

Ilia glanced at me for a moment, and then turned away, heading back to where Ralis lay.

I couldn't believe it, what was wrong? Ilia acted as though she didn't even know me. I imagined it was hard for her all this time after having been captured, but wouldn't she have been glad to see me? I didn't understand, was she all right? I watched her in disbelief as she went to go sit back down where she'd been before, and started to sob.

"Well, this isn't good." Telma said. A fluffy white cat was at her heels, and then jumped up onto the makeshift bed to sit at the Zora child's feet. "A human doctor won't do, huh..." She paused, and then seemed to remember something. "That old coot reminded me, though... I've heard of a shaman in Kakariko Village, in the Eldin lands, who's tended to Gorons and Zoras."

Ilia gasped at this, and stood up, looking more hopeful than before. "Is that true? Perhaps if we take him there..."

"Inadvisable! Too dangerous!" Someone suddenly yelled. It was then that I noticed some Hyrule Castle guards that were in the bar also. I remembered having seen them before when we were first here while we were in twilight. "But we can't turn a blind eye to a pretty girl in need, either. Yes, we'd better escort you! Am I right, boys?!"

All the soldiers cheered and waved their spears in the air.

Well, that was convenient. Ralis would be saved, and Ilia would be safe in Kakariko with the other children. But then I remembered that the Bridge of Eldin was out and they'd have to take a different route. I'd have to go along with them anyway.

"Well, isn't that nice." Telma said to Ilia. "To reach Kakariko, we've got to cross two plains that are each infested by dangerous beasts. But we'll be safe now!"

At this, the guards suddenly stopped cheering and lowered their spears. When Telma wasn't looking, they all sneaked out of the bar. She then looked and there was one guard who hadn't been paying attention. He then realized he was all alone and also left the bar in fright.

Unbelievable! I couldn't believe that soldiers of Hyrule showed such cowardice! I always did have respect toward them, but no wonder Zant took over, Zelda's army was absolutely useless. I hated to say it, but the guads were cowards.

"Cowards! Don't EVER show your faces here again!" Telma shouted after them angrily.

Then she finally noticed me just standing there.

"Oh my! Looks like we've got one young swordsman left!" Telma smiled. "And not only that, but it looks like this brave young man will escort us, so get ready to go, honey! Pronto!"

Ilia nodded and then went to the back room. I stared after her, and still couldn't believe that she didn't recognize me. Did my clothes set her off more than I thought?

Telma seemed to sense my disbelief as she came over to me.

"You know that girl, don't you?" She said knowingly. "It's a real shame... She can't even remember her own name right now."

I was shocked at this, but now it made sense. Ilia had somehow lost her memory! But how did that happen? Had she hit her head? All I remembered was that she was shot in the back with an arrow, and that was obviously not the cause of it. What happened to her?

Telma glanced over at Ralis for a moment. "Bless her heart... She found this poor boy collapsed on the road, so she did all she could to save him. More courage in that girl than in all the soldiers of Hyrule, for sure!" She turned back to me. "You lend your strength to her, you hear me?"

I nodded. I had promised to help save Ralis, and thanks to Ilia's kind heart, he was safe for now and we could take him to Kakariko Village. Even if I wasn't asked to help him, I would have anyway.

--

We loaded up a horse and cart to take to Kakariko Village, and I went on Epona. We left Castle Town and went to a lookout nearby that looked out to the Great Bridge of Hylia and Lake Hylia.

And guess who was on that bridge? Our old friend King Bulblin. That giant ogre who I'd had a jousting match with on the Bridge of Eldin. He was pacing the bridge atop his gigantic boar.

Telma, Ilia and I were standing at the lookout looking to the bridge after I'd told her that the Bridge of Eldin was uncrossable.

"So you say that the bridge to the east has been destroyed, huh? Then our only option is to cross the bridge to the west. You see what that means? You'll have to deal with that thing!"

That was true, if were hoping to get to across the bridge safely, I'd have to take care of King Bulblin. That shouldn't be a problem.

We then brought the horse and cart over to the path leading toward the Great Bridge of Hylia. Ilia rode in the back of the cart with Ralis while Telma sat up front to steer the horse.

"Th-thank you so much for this." Ilia said to me from the back of the cart. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

I felt pretty bad for Ilia, losing her memory and all, but I thought it was best if I didn't show it too much.

"My name's Link." I told her.

Ilia paused a moment, looking as if she was trying to remember something. "...Link?!"

Then it was gone.

"I will never in all my life forget your kindness, Link." She finished.

"Little lady, I think you'd best save your thanks until we're safe in Kakariko..." Telma said. "This swordsman of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild...like a feral beast."

I nearly laughed at the irony of that. Midna must've been thinking the same thing because I could hear her giggling from my shadow.

"We need a beast right now, to keep the true ones at bay. If we make it to Kakariko safely, we'll just thank him then, OK?" Telma then blew a kiss and winked at me.

"Um...okaaayy...." I heard Midna mumble, sounding weirded out.

In return I just smiled humbly, and then we were on our way.

"You ready to roll, Link? You've got to protect these young ones on the way to Kakariko!" Telma called to me as we set off toward the bridge.

I slowly but briskly rode Epona alongside the cart as we went along the path leading to the Great Bridge of Hylia.

As we pulled up to the archway, I saw King Bulblin on the other side, waiting for us. Only now he had to large shields on each arm, protecting him on each side, so my sword as useless against him now.

So how was I going to beat him this time?

"OK, it's your turn, honey! We're counting on you!" Telma told me.

But I couldn't back down now. I had to find a way, and I was going to get them to Kakariko Village safely no matter what. No way was I going to let them down.

I nudged Epona's ribs and we hurried out onto the bridge. Like before, I kicked Epona into a gallop and ran toward King Bulblin as he charged toward us on his boar.

"Link!" I heard Midna shout from the shadows. "Use your arrows! You'll be able to hit him with those!"

Of course, my arrows! He was protected on each side, but not from the front. So surely I could shoot an arrow at him.

I drew out my bow and shot him with an arrow. Sure enough, it sailed past the shields and hit him, causing the ogre to falter.

Turning Epona around, we charged at each other again, and in the nick of time, I shot him again with an arrow.

King Bulblin faltered and Lord Bulbo, his boar, was staggering around until he crashed into the side of the bridge, sending King Bulblin flying down into Lake Hylia while the boar staggered away.

Two sets of keys had fallen from the ogre, so I hopped off Epona and picked them up. They were keys to the gates up ahead, so they'd come in handy.

Telma then pulled up beside us with the cart. "Nice, honey! Keep up the good work!"

With the bridge cleared, we continued on our way.

As we headed down the path across the bridge and then a smaller drawbridge, that was when the trouble began.

Bulblins were stationed along the cliffside and shot fire arrows at us. We managed to get past them and then came to the first gate. I hopped off Epona and used one of the keys to unlock the gate so Telma's horse could get through with the cart.

We passed through the gate and a couple of Bulblins on boars followed with us, shooting more arrows at us. I caught up with them and shot at them, but while I was distracted, I suddenly heard Ilia screaming. I then saw why when the tarp covering the wagon was set on fire! Oh no! I had to put out the flames!

"Use your windy thing, Link! You know, the windy boomerang!" Midna yelled, having seen it too.

I did just that, drawing the Gale Boomerang and shooting it at the cart, putting out the flames. Then I slashed at the goblins with my sword and knocked them dead off their boars.

With them out of the way, we continued along Hyrule Field and were nearly at the other bridge that we'd earlier "repaired" during our journey to Kakariko Village, when suddenly Telma's horse let out a terrified whinny and ran off the path off course. Telma tried to steer her horse back onto the path, and I followed along, wondering what had spooked the horse.

She finally got the horse back onto the path, and that was when Midna found the source of the problem.

"Link, up there! That bird!"

I looked up and saw a Kargorok flying above, and it was carrying a bomb. I then realized that it dropped the bomb near the horse, which spooked it and resulted in running off the path. I took out my bow and shot the bird before it could cause anymore trouble.

We finally came to the gate leading into Kakariko Village, so I got off Epona and unlocked that gate so that Telma's horse could get through. Before long, we rode safely into the village.

--

We got there, and Renado must've somehow sensed our approach because he was outside waiting for us near the sanctuary. He helped us bring Ralis into the inn, where he and his daughter Luda tended to him.

Colin and I waited in the inn outside the room, since he was up and curious as to what had been going on.

After a few minutes, Renado came out from the room to tell us the news.

"...He has passed through the worst of it. As long as he rests, he should recover in due time."

Colin grinned and looked relieved. He knew how it felt to be in Ralis's position. He looked at me and smiled, and I nodded at him, smiling in return.

"Do you know the fate of his mother?" Renado suddenly said.

My smile faded and I looked at the shaman with surprise.

"Her welfare consumes him. He has been mumbling deliriously about her almost constantly..."

My gaze dropped a bit as I could now see that Ralis knew nothing of his mother's death.

"She was killed." I admitted.

Renado nodded in understanding. "...I can see the knowledge grieves you. It must be an awful memory."

A silence passed along us until Colin spoke up.

"I'll stay with him until he's better! No matter how long it takes!" He offered.

Renado kneeled at Colin's level and nodded. "Is that so? Thank you, Colin."

I looked into the room and saw Ilia sitting by Ralis's bedside. Luda was there too, comforting Ilia. She was pretty worried about him, I could tell.

I felt relieved now that Ilia was now safe with the other kids, and didn't have to worry about them anymore. Despite that, we had to do something about her memory loss. I had never dealt with that kind of thing before, so I had no clue what to do. I even heard Midna mumbling about it.

After a few minutes, Colin and I went outside. Telma was out by the door, leaning against the railing.

"Hey, Link, about Ilia..." Colin began. "Is it true, what they said about her?"

I wasn't sure what to say, but Renado answered for him as he came outside, overhearing him.

"Yes, she has lost her memory, Colin, and regaining it will be no simple task. But it will be all right, child. If we just give her some time, I am certain that Ilia will find her heart again. So, Colin, I'd like to ask you to stay in this village until then. It is our turn to show the courage that you have already displayed."

Colin grinned and then headed back into the inn. Renado bowed to us in farewell before he turned and headed off toward the spring.

"Nice to see there's still hope here." Telma remarked. "And it's always good to see happy results repay your efforts... Those skills of yours... Any chance you're of the mind to put them to use for Hyrule?"

I turned around to face her. It was funny since I'd been doing that since pretty much the beginning of this fiasco, but she had no way of knowing that.

"What hope there is in our kingomd is frail and dying...but there's still a group trying to do what it can. And I'm a member of that group." She came over to me and held out her hand. "Call me Telma."

I smiled and shook her hand to humour her. I was surprised to see that there was a group here out to help save Hyrule from all the chaos happening. Hmm, maybe I could help them out a bit once we get all of the Fused Shadows.

Telma went over to lean against the railing. "I may just stay here a bit longer. I'm still worried about Ilia, and... Well, never mind the rest."

Her eyes strained to Renado as she said this. I hid a smile behind my hand. She had a crush on him! I didn't blame her, Renado was a very honourable, caring man. Men like him were very hard to come by.

"Oh please." I heard Midna mumble. I could almost see her rolling her eyes.

I turned away from the shaman and looked back at Telma, who came over to me and leaned toward me, which startled me.

"Link, I want to see you again at my bar, you hear me? The bar is actually a kind of safe house for my friends. There's a passageway that leads to the castle from in there, as well." She went to go, and then turned back to me. "If you ever need anything, stop by. I'll be waiting for you, honey!" She winked at me and then ran off after Renado."

I stared after her for a moment, and then I turned to go back inside the inn.

"Um...Link? You might want to turn around." I heard Midna say from the shadows.

Puzzled, I did as she said and then gasped.

Queen Rutela's ghost was hovering near us, and then she deliberately glided away. I realized it meant for us to follow.

I quickly followed after her as she glided past the town and toward the back of the sanctuary, toward the graveyard.

We came into the graveyard, and she lead the way toward the back end of the graveyard, where there was a stone with an odd symbol engraved on it leaning against the canyon wall. It then glowed, and disappeared to reveal a crawlspace tunnel. She then disappeared to the other side.

I crawled in through the hole, and came to a water source. She was waiting for me at the other side of the water on a small island, where a shrine was that had the same symbol as the rock from before.

So I dove into the water and swam across over to her.

"I am deeply grateful to you for aiding my son in his time of need. You were right to bring him here. Kakariko Village is a sacred place for the Zora People. It is where we take our eternal rest. My husband in life, King Zora, also rests his spirit here." Queen Rutela gestured toward the shrine, which was actually a grave. "It is no coincidence my son found his salvation in this place. ...That which I promised you is within this grave. During his lifetime, my husband created garments specifically for the chosen hero, garments that house the abilities of the Zora."

The grave then slid back, revealing a small opening. Inside was the garments she was talking about. I went over to it and lifted them out. It was a blue tunic embroided with scales, headgear, and footwear.

"Now, at last, I can join the king in slumber. And yet... My son... He still knows nothing of my death. If you see him again, please pass on this message... Tell him he must not grieve his mother's passing. Tell him she wanted him to be brave and live on as the king of our people. And... Tell him his mother...loves him without end. Tell him..."

She then faded away.

As I stood there a moment, taking it all in, I was slightly startled when Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Well, it's a good thing you found all of your friends and picked up that nifty Zora armor... But aren't you forgetting something kind of important? That last Fused Shadow... Remember what Faron the light spirit said... He said you would need the Fused Shadows to defeat the dark overlord Zant and save the world... So even if you go back now with all the people you saved... The whole tragedy would just repeat itself... So let's go get it! We need to go to the temple on the lake bed of Lake Hylia."

Of course, I had just remembered that myself. I'd been so busy clearing the twilight and now getting Ilia, Ralis and Telma safely to Kakariko Village, that it nearly distracted me from our real goal. Now that everyone was definitely safe, it was time to move forward.

"But first things first." Midna continued. "We need to stock up on supplies. You should go into town and get some."

I nodded and then we went back into the village. The sun was up and it was morning already. Wow, had it really been that long?

We first went to Malo's little store, and he had this item called a Hawkeye for sale. It was apparently some kind of a scope that was used for long-range tactics. So I bought that in case it would come in handy, maybe for long-range observation or something.

Then we went to Barnes's store, and saw that he had a new type of bomb, which were Water Bombs and could be used underwater. Since we were going to be going underwater, I figured they'd come in handy so I bought some.

Afterward, we left the village on Epona and made our way to Zora's Domain, where I told the Zora's that Ralis was all right an in Kakariko Village.

To try out the Zora armor, I put it on and then dove to the bottom of the spring in the throne room. It was spacious, and rocky.

The big molten lava rock we'd used to melt the ice was still there, sticking up from the ground. A Zora was floating nearby and mentioned to me that it was as though the rock was looking at you.

I immediately saw why, since I saw a pair of eyes peering out from a crack in the rock. My curiosity got the better of me, so I took a water bomb and placed it next to the rock. It exploded and the rock burst, and there was a Goron! Apparently he had somehow gotten stuck in the rock during the eruptions in Death Mountain, and then gave me a Bomb Bag in thanks for rescuing him.

We then went to Upper Zora's River, and met the woman who owned the boathouse, who's name was Iza. A bunch of shadow beasts ambushed us, and so I killed them to create another portal. There wasn't much point since I wasn't a wolf anymore. Oh well.

Anyway, Iza was impressed and brought me inside. She told me that she owned a boat rental, and that a rocky landslide had blocked off the river's flow from here. She asked me to help her out with getting rid of it. She gave me another Bomb Bag and some arrows to help, so I used Bomb Arrows in order to get rid of the rocks.

She then gave me a canoe to ride down river, and meet up with an employee of hers, where she would lead me to the next landslide.

Nearly halfway down the river, I met up with a Zora, who said she was the employee. What a smart idea, having a Zora working for a boat rental place to lead the customers down river.

I took care of the other rock landslide, and then pulled up in Lake Hylia, where the Zora thanked me for helping and let me keep the Bomb Bag.

With everything taken care of, it was time to sink down to the bottom of the lake and go to the Lakebed Temple.


	16. Lakebed Temple

Has anyone noticed that ALL the water-based temples in the games are REALLY hard? I mean, I know I don't have much knowledge of the other Zelda games, but I noticed that the Water Temple in _Ocarina of Time_ and the Great Bay Temple in _Majora's Mask_ were both pretty hard, confusing and....well, tedious. Now same for the Lakebed Temple right here.

Their puzzles drive even the smartest of nerds insane.

And by that I mean people who log onto YouTube and complain about how long it takes adamwestslapdog to make his videos. XD LOL! That was quoted from Sheik in adamwestslapdog's Ocarina of Time Abridged series. X3

Oh, and doesn't anyone else notice how Morpheel is ideally similar to...oh, you know, Morpha?

Anyway, on with the show! :D

--~~--

It was true that deep water was cold. I was beginning to envy Midna more and more, since she was hiding in my shadow and not at all affected by this. But luckily, the Zora armor allowed me to pretty much breathe and live underwater, so other than the cold, I wasn't bothered.

The entrance to the Lakebed Temple was sealed off by a large rock, but with the help of a bubbly gyzer and a water bomb, we managed to blow up the rock and reveal the entrance.

We swam inside, which was a large tunnel of water. Ahead were some jellyfish, and a large clam, which came toward me and clamped its giant "jaws". I managed to get past them and swim upward, since the tunnel faced upward.

Once I surfaced, I climbed out of the water and took a look around. There was nothing much in the room except a door leading to the next room.

I went through the door, and then another door, and came to a large, round chamber. There was a strange island in the middle of a small round pool of water, and there was a large staircase.

Guess who we found again? Right, Ooccoo. I never understood how she got to the next dungeon we would go to, but we took her with us and continued on our way.

It turned out that the staircase was a rotating staircase, which helped us get to the different areas and levels.

After a while, through some challenging puzzles and searching, we came to this room where there was ankle-deep water, and nothing else.

The hole we'd come in through sealed up, and now there was no way out. There was an opening on a ledge above us, but it was too high for me to reach. Great.

Suddenly, a couple of strange little tadpole-like creatures rained down on us. They nipped at my ankles and cornered me, but I took care of them with my sword.

"Ow." I grumbled, getting down and rubbing my ankles.

"Um...Link? I think you should look up." Midna suddenly said.

"Huh?" I looked up toward the ceiling, and my jaw dropped in repulsion.

Hanging from a stalactite was a large, disgusting-looking toad the size of an elephant. It made a strange, rumbling noise and then dropped down to the ground, causing a tremor. There were strange bumps on its back, and when it shook, they all fell off and hatched into the strange tadpole monsters!

"Ewww!!!" Midna gagged. "This one's all yours! I can't stand pimply creatures!"

I drew my sword and slashed at the annoying little pests that were biting at my ankles and chasing after me. I was distracted by them, and didn't even notice the Deku Toad suddenly disappear.

Suddenly, a strange toad-shaped shadow appeared below us, and I realized that the toad was trying to flatten us! I managed to quickly roll out of the way and nearly fell over as the toad landed, with its tongue sticking out.

I wasn't sure what else to do in order to defeat it, but I lunged over at it and slashed at its tongue. It yelled out in pain and then jumped back, shaking some more of the pesky tadpole monsters off its back.

After repeating this process a couple more times, the Deku Toad thrashed about, and then spat something out of its mouth, coated in slime before it exploded into nothing.

I saw that the object it had spat out of its mouth was a chest. I went over to it and popped the lid, and took out the item inside. It was a clawshot. I'd read about this thing once, it was able to shoot out and grasp objects to either bring you closer to it or bring it closer to you.

With it, we managed to get out of this room and continue through the temple.

After a while, we finally found the Boss Key, and after having raised the water about two levels, we went to the island in the middle of the circular chamber and entered through the heavily locked door.

There was nothing in the room except for a hole. So with no other option, I jumped down the hole, and landed in some water. There was no way back up, so I slipped on the iron boots and sank under the water.

Below was a circular room with a few stone pillars, and there was sand on the ground. I sank to the bottom, and noticed this strange-looking tentacle poking up from a round pit in the sand. An eye then coursed through it as though it were hollow, which surprised me.

The eye stared at me, and then traveled back down through the tentacle into the sand. Then several more tentacles rose from beneath the sand! Not only that, but a strange-looking round head with two mouths then popped out as well. It was like some kind of a strange anemone monster. It was Morpheel, the monster set to guard the Fused Shadow.

The tentacles were waving about, and the eye traveled through the strange tentacles. How was I going to attack it? Something told me that getting close to it was a bad idea, but I had to attack it somehow.

"Link, I think that the eye is its weak point..." Midna offered. "Use your clawshot thing to bring it out!"

Well it was worth a shot. I took out the clawshot and approached the monster at a distance so that the waving tentacles wouldn't touch me. It was hard to properly aim at the eye since it was always moving, but I finally managed to grasp it and pull it out toward me. I drew my sword and then slashed at it a couple of times.

The eye then bounced back to the monster, and then it disappeared under the ground.

That was it? Wow, that was too easy!

Suddenly, the was a strange rumbling, and I realized that it wasn't over yet. And that was when Morpheel emerged from the ground, and it was HUGE. The anemone was only its head, the rest of its body was large, long and eel-like.

It circled about the underwater chamber, and I took off my iron boots to swim after it. As I approached it, I could see now that the eye was lodged into the back of its neck. If I could latch onto it somehow, I could attack it.

Morpheel swam around, probably trying to swallow me up. So I swam above it in order to avoid its scary-looking jaws. I had to find a way and kill it. I wasn't going to let Midna or everyone else down. I had to get the last Fused Shadow, for everyone's sake.

That's when an idea struck me.

I drew out the clawshot and shot it toward the skin of where the eye was lodged. It pulled me to it and I held onto the skin. I drew my sword and stabbed it into the eye a couple of times. Morpheel roared in pain and then swerved about, trying to throw me off. I let go and was sent flying upward.

Once I regained myself, I swam after it and then repeated the process a couple of more times.

With one last stab, it roared in agony and swam toward the wall, I managed to let go before being tossed myself. Morpheel crashed into the wall, creating a crack as it fell limp to the ground. The water then started gushing out through the crack, lowering the water level.

After a few moments, the chamber was empty of the water except for some puddles. Morpheel exploded into twilight squares, which then formed into the Fused Shadow. It lowered itself down toward me and hovered above my open hands. I could barely believe it, we finally had the last Fused Shadow in our hands!

Midna then popped out of the shadows. "There it is! The last Fused Shadow..." She took it into her twilight hand hair. "I'll just take that, thanks! Now, don't resent me for all I've put you through. I NEED this thing! Besides, we have to do something about Zant, the one who thinks he is the king of shadows... His power is a false one... I'll prove it using these! So... I've done everything I needed to. I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place with me..."

I suddenly had a sinking feeling in my stomach then. Did this mean goodbye? Would we part ways and never see each other again? I was unsure if she wanted me to help her fight Zant, which I would do in a heartbeat, but what if the Fused Shadows were enough to take him on?

Although at first I was looking forward to getting the last Fused Shadow so that Midna and I could part ways, but that was when I couldn't stand her. Now I felt so differently about her, and thought of her as my friend. I could tell she liked me too.

The idea of never seeing her again broke my heart. I'd gotten so used to having her around and ended up becoming more attached to her than I'd planned.

Midna floated over to the ground a few yards away and created a portal.

"So... Shall we go?" She sounded hesitant, but kept a brave front. I guess she didn't like the idea of us parting ways either.

As glad as I was to finally have this all over and done with, getting all of the Fused Shadows, clearing the twilight, and now about to defeat Zant, I really wished it wasn't over.

I was really going to miss Midna.

So I changed into my regular clothes, and stepped over to the portal, where we disappeared from the temple.


	17. Return To Hyrule Castle

Oh my God, when I first played the game, I totally didn't expect Zelda to sacrifice herself to save Midna! To tell you the truth, I was feeling horrified and sad that Midna was going to die. But I did know that Midna was around at the end of the game, so how would she die?

This was also one of my favourite parts of the game, since I think it's when Link and Midna became a lot closer. Hee hee!

Oh, and you know Telma's cat, Louise? I read on Zeldapedia that Telma and Louise were inspired by Thelma and Louise! XD

By the way, I know Link didn't actually lick Midna when she fell to the floor, I just added that like the LinkxMidna-tard that I am. X3

Midna makes the cutest little noises!! Squee! X3

Anyway, shall we begin?

--~~--

We came back into the spirit's spring, now fully equipped with the Fused Shadows. I wasn't sure what would happen from here on, but I guess the first thing to do was get outside.

As I turned around to go outside, I gasped as I came face to face with Zant.

I knew it was him, although I don't know how I knew. It seemed obvious. He must've been waiting for us to emerge from the temple. He had a strange mask on so I couldn't see his face, and a flowing cloak with twili markings along it.

The spring suddenly shone bright, and I heard Lanayru emerge from the water. It must've sensed his presence also and knew who he was.

Zant appeared un-fazed, and then a strange force of power came from him and knocked me down onto the ground. Lanayru fell back against the spring, apparently taking the pain a lot harder. I couldn't see, but I could distinctly hear what was going on.

I felt a strange feeling, and something wasn't right.

"Zant!" I suddenly heard Midna say.

Midna? How did she get out of the shadows? What was going on?!

What really worried me then was that I heard her cry out and gasp. Midna! What's going on?! Why I couldn't I get up?

"Did you honestly mean to take an ancient and withered power like this and turn it against me? You are a foolish traitor, Midna. Why do you defy your king?" I heard Zant say.

I wasn't sure what he meant by all that, but I knew he was one to talk.

"My KING?" I heard Midna spit in disbelief. "You, who do nothing but abuse the magic of your tribe? You must be joking!"

"How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is...our old magic? Now THAT is a joke!"

I heard Midna cry out and then suddenly slam onto the ground near me. Zant! I would kill you right now if I wasn't in a daze! No way was I going to let him get away with hurting Midna like that.

"This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it!" Zant then said.

I felt myself come to, and I opened my eyes, I gasped. It was then I saw that we were in twilight again. What had happened?

I was also a wolf again, since we were in twilight.

Zant was standing near Midna, who had was laying on the ground, a bit dazed.

Midna!

Without hesitating, I lunged at Zant. But I didn't see the strange red orb he had before him, and my forehead collided with it. It sent me flying back and I landed on the ground, feeling a searing pain in my head.

"Link.... Link!" I heard Midna gasp. With my dulled vision, I saw her kneeling beside me.

Midna... I....

The pain in my head disappeared, and I slipped away into unconsciousness.

Midna...

--

All of a sudden, I felt myself floating, and then landed on hard ground. I opened my eyes, and saw that I was outside, and it was night time.

I was shocked to find myself still a wolf. What?! How was that possible? We weren't in the twilight anymore, so how was I still a wolf?

Somehow I'd ended up in Hyrule Field, not far from Castle Town. How did I get here?

I then suddenly heard harsh, laboured breathing from behind me and looked over my shoulder. Midna was flopped over on my back, but something was wrong with her. Her skin and Fused Shadow helmet were a strange colour, and her breathing was laboured.

Oh no, Midna! What happened to you? Did Zant do this?! I remembered that she said she couldn't retain her solid form in the light, since it would be bad for her, and she was in her solid form now for some reason.

"Link, hero chosen by the goddesses..." I suddenly heard Lanayru's voice speak from somewhere. "Go to the princess locked away in the castle. That princess holds the key that can unlock you from your shadow form..."

Princess Zelda, of course! Surely she could help shed some light on the situation.

But I was more worried about Midna than myself, it didn't matter that I was a wolf now, and since I knew Zelda could help, it didn't matter.

With that, I ran as quick as I could to get back to Hyrule Castle. I tried to be as careful as I could so that Midna wouldn't fall of my back.

I hope Zelda can do something to help her too. I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself if Midna died. The thought of her dead made me sick to my stomach, and seeing her in this sickened, damaged state was already killing me. I wanted to cry like a wolf could.

But I couldn't let her down. I had to get her help. I had to stay strong.

Don't worry Midna, I'll save you. I won't ever let anything happen to you again.

I ran quickly, and it soon began to rain. Midna breathed harshly and in pain from my back. Poor thing, what had happened to her?

It didn't take very long to get to Castle Town. When I entered through the gates, I heard the people who saw me screaming. I didn't blame them, seeing a wolf with a strange imp creature on its back wasn't something you would think of as reassuring, but I didn't care. I had to get help from Midna.

But where could I go? How would I get into Hyrule Castle? The first time it was from the Hyrule Castle water system, making our way up to the rooftops. But how would we get there now?

Then an idea struck me. Telma! I could go to Telma's Bar and try to get help from there. She said I could go to her bar anytime, and now was a good time.

I hurried through the streets of Castle Town and through the alley to the bar. The door was slightly ajar, so I poked it open with my nose and peeked in.

"Beast! Get out!"

What the- I was suddenly sent flying and onto the ground. Midna nearly fell off my back, but I regained myself and nudged her back up with my nose. She was still alive, thank goodness.

Great, now what? It all seemed hopeless, we had no way of getting to the castle.

"You there!" A voice suddenly said to me.

Huh? Oh no, now what?

I looked up toward the source of the voice, and saw a fluffy white cat come out from a nearby window, hop down the crates, and land onto the ground. She didn't seem to care that it was raining or that she was in waist-deep water. She turned to us, and I realized that it was Telma's cat!

"You're Link, correct?"

She came over to me, and sniffed me a couple of times. "Mm, yes, I thought so. I could just tell, you know. I'm Louise. Do you remember meeting me in the shop before? Though I don't think we were properly introduced..."

I remembered her all right, although I'd only glanced at her briefly a couple of times.

"In any case, I must tell you, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you look like that. Really, dear, you can't blame the humans for tossing you out, the way you look." Louise then looked at Midna on my back. "Oh... Another patient? You certainly are a curious sort..."

"...Plea... Please..." Midna uttered weakly from my back. I looked at her over my shoulder, and saw she was struggling to speak and keep her eye open. "Princess... Z-Zelda..."

Louise paused, and then wandered over to the crates that were up against the wall beneath the window where she came out. "This way! Here, get in through the window. The attic is connected to the castle's waterway. It's an old waterway, though...so it could be a rough trip. Well... I suppose all that's left to do is make sure that the humans don't notice you."

I nodded to Louise in deep thanks. We could get to Hyrule Castle and Midna would be saved!

We went over to a nearby crate, and I pushed it up against the others with my shoulder so that I could climb onto them and enter through the window.

Inside the bar, Telma was behind the counter, and there was a Goron pacing near the door. I guessed he had escorted Telma back here. There were a few tightropes to cross, and I had to be careful and keep quiet.

Crossing one rope, I noticed a group sitting at the table in the back down below me and they were talking. I heard myself mentioned, but I didn't have time to listen now. I crossed the rope and went through another window.

We came into this house, where the ground was littered in coins and rupees. A strange human-shaped golden statue embedded with jewels with a golden cat on its head sat on a throne.

Nearby was a strange lantern floating around. Something wasn't right about it. I approached it and it let out a strange cry. Honing my senses, I saw a strange creature holding a scythe, and it was holding the lantern by its feat.

It was a ghostly creature known as a Poe. With no other option, I killed it. A strange purple-black orb rose from it, and I remembered reading that the only way to properly kill it was to remove its soul. So I ripped my jaws at it and withdrew the soul.

Now what? There was no way out of this room. I noticed a hole I could dig through, but it was flooded with water. Probably from the rain. The ledge was too high for me to jump back up onto. Great.

Suddenly, I heard a voice speaking to me. But there was no one else in the room. I then realized that it was the statue.

"Oh... Th-thanks for beating the ghost. Can I call you...doggie?"

What the?! How was the statue talking!?

"I'm Jovani." The statue went on. "I...became consumed by greed long ago, and sold my soul to a dark creature that did this to me... I can't move... I can't go see my girlfriend... My pet cat Gengle is frozen to my head... I don't think I could be more miserable... I have to ask you a favor, doggie... Can you find and defeat the 20 ghosts that lurk in the dark for me? I think if you can free the pieces of my soul from the ghosts that hold them, I'll be free... Oh, but it's raining out now, I don't think you can go outside directly. I'll open the door to the underground waterway for you..."

That was when the big, gleaming red chest opened up. That chest led to the castle waterway? Wow.

"Once the rain stops, you can come back in here by digging around the front wall where the cats gather... Understand, doggie?"

I nodded to him in thanks, and then went over to the large chest, dropping down the hole.

We landed on a steep hill, and rolled down it into running water. Down a small waterfall, we came into a circular room with some pesky rats scampering about. I killed them all swiftly, and then looked for a way out. The waterway was continuing through a barred door.

I noticed a chain, like the ones from before, and so I leaped up and grabbed it with my teeth, pulling it down. The bars lifted up, allowing us to flow down with the current. I tried to stay afloat so that Midna wouldn't fall off my back.

Once back to shore, I went up some stairs and encountered a few giant spiders that I remembered seeing back in the Forest Temple. It was harder killing them as a wolf without the ending blow, but I took care of them none the less.

There was a spider web blocking the doorway nearby, and since I couldn't use my lantern, I had to find a stick or something. A couple of lit torches stood opposite each other against the walls, and there were a couple of sticks. I picked one up in my teeth and lit the stick, lighting the web on fire.

Once that was clear, I came into the next room and lit the torches in there too. On a ledge was another spiderweb blocking the entrance to the next room, so I re-lit the stick and went up to get rid of it.

A couple of bulblins were stationed around up ahead, so I killed them so they wouldn't get in the way. We then came into this empty room, and I saw a spot on the floor I could dig through, and so I did, careful not the hurt Midna.

We emerged from the ground and came out this tunnel, and I realized where we were now. This was the area of the Hyrule Castle Sewers where Midna and I had first met.

My heart sank as I reflected on that faithful day. This was where we first met...was this where we were going to be parted forever?

I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts. No, I was going to do whatever it took to save Midna, even if I had to die while doing so.

I quickly ran to the round staircase, and saw that there were more tightropes I could cross to get up. I made my way up carefully and slowly so that Midna wouldn't fall. A few bulblins were stationed along the stairs and I killed them.

It didn't take long to reach the top. This time, the large door was open. Good thing, otherwise we wouldn't be able to get to the smaller door on top.

I went out the door, and came outside onto the Hyrule Castle Rooftops. It was still raining, and a gust of strong wind occasional blew in our direction, but I continued on. We had to get to the tower, to Princess Zelda.

Despite the hardships, I pressed on, determined to get to our destination.

Finally, we made it into the tower and I hurried into the room Zelda was in. The door was still open, so I went inside.

Once inside the room, I looked around and saw that Zelda was nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone? She had gone AWOL. Now what?

I heard a plop from behind me and realized that Midna had slipped off my back and onto the floor.

Oh no, Midna! Midna! No!

I turned around, lightly nudging her with my nose, and then licked her lightly on the cheek, whimpering slightly.

Midna...

Suddenly I noticed a gloved hand lay on Midna's shoulder. I looked up and noticed Zelda kneeling behind Midna, she was still in her cloak. Whe did she get here? Where had she been?

"Please... Please tell me... How do we break...the curse on this one?" Midna uttered weakly, raising her hand toward Zelda.

Zelda took Midna's hand with both of hers. I glanced back down at Midna, and I couldn't believe what she was saying. All this time, she was worried about saving me than herself. I was sure she would've tried to get Zelda to save her instead of me.

"This...is the one... You need him...to save your world!" Midna went on. "That's why... Princess... Please... You must help Link..."

No, Midna! Never mind me, you need to be saved more than I do! Midna please don't die!

I would've cried then if I could. I couldn't believe she cared more about my welfare than her own.

My eyes on Midna, I caught sight of Zelda looking toward me, and then holding her hand out to me. She paused a moment before speaking.

"What binds him is a different magic than what transformed him when he first passed the curtain of twilight. It is an evil power. Our world is one of balance... Just as there is light to drive away darkness, so, too, is there benevolence to banish evil. Head for the sacred grove that lies deep within the lands guarded by the spirit Faron. There you will find the blade of evil's bane that was crafted by the wisdom of the ancient sages...the Master Sword. The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil can never touch. Evil cloaks you like a dark veil...and that blade is the only thing that can cleave it." Zelda explained.

The Master Sword? I remembered reading in the legends that my ancestor, the Hero of Time, wielded the legendary Master Sword. Unbelievable.

"Link... Hero sent by the goddesses... Like you, I have been granted special powers by the goddessess..." Zelda held her right hand up to show the mark of the Triforce glowing on the back of her hand. I believe it was the Triforce of Wisdom, which symbolized that she was the descendant of the Princess Zelda of the past.

After a moment of silence, Midna then spoke up.

"Fine... Link... You can get to the woods...on your own, right?"

No, I didn't want to go without Midna. She was my partner, my friend. I just couldn't imagine my life without her. I needed her. I couldn't just let her die.

It was my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid and tried to kill Zant right there on the spot, I never would've gotten myself knocked out and left her open for danger. It was my fault that Midna was dying. I could've saved her. I could've protected her.

Midna, it's all my fault! Please don't die, I...

My thoughts were interrupted when Midna spoke again.

"Princess... I have one last request... Can you tell him...where to find the Mirror of Twilight?"

Zelda gasped at this. I wasn't sure why, but I don't think she was expecting that.

"Midna... I believe I understand just who and what you are..." Zelda murmured. "Despite your mortal injuries, you act in our stead... These dark times are a result of our deeds, yet it is you who have reaped the penalty. Accept this now, Midna. I pass it to you..."

Her joined hands then began to glow, a sparkling light traveled from her and onto Midna. The little imp gasped in surprise as she saw herself glowing too. She then rose into the air. I stared in amazement. What was Zelda doing? What was going on?

"No! Link! STOP HER!" Midna yelled in shock.

Zelda looked up at Midna and smiled at her. The glow and sparkles didn't cease. Whatever Zelda was doing to Midna, she wasn't stopping.

Midna tried to shout out something else as the glow got brighter, but no sound came out.

Right then, Zelda's hands holding Midna's disappeared and faded away into nothing. Zelda was gone.

Midna slowly landed on the ground and to my surprise, she was in her solid form, like she was in the twilight, but now she was in the light. I realized then that Zelda had sacrificed herself to save Midna! In turn, it also seemed to make her impervious to the light.

I couldn't believe it. Midna was saved! A burst of joy ran to my heart, I was so relieved and happy she was alive. Thank the Goddesses.

Still, I felt bad that Zelda had to sacrifice herself. I could see Midna didn't want that. I understood, I probably would've felt the same way. She didn't ask for it though, that much I could tell. It only made the sacrifice more meaningful.

Midna was silent for a few moments and I walked over to her, we both stared at the spot where Zelda had once been, taking it all in.

"We go back, Link! Back to Faron Woods!" Midna suddenly said.

She then flipped into the air and landed on her old seat on my back. By now it felt so right to have her on my back again.

"Zelda... I've taken all that you had to give...though I did not want it." Midna muttered.

After a few moments, we then warped outside of Castle Town and then started to head away.

Suddenly, a strange rush of power came over us, and it was coming from behind us.

I turned around to look back at Hyrule Castle while Midna shifted to sit side-saddle, following my gaze.

To our horror, a strange, pyramid-shaped barrier surrounded the castle! Now that Zelda was gone, whatever was lurking within the castle walls now had free control of the castle, sealed away safely inside beyond the barrier.

Midna clenched her first and I growled lightly in anger as we felt the barrier looming in our hearts. We glanced at each other and then calmed down, realizing that it was no use getting angry about this. We had to get to Faron Woods.


	18. The Master Sword

Yaaaayy, we get the Master Sword! :D You know, I always thought something from like Ocarina of Time would happen when I first got to that point, hee hee! XD

Oh my God. I am in LOVE with the music of the Twilight Realm. Whoever composed it is BRILLIANT! It's so morbid and dark, but it's beautiful at the same time. A perfect melody! It captures the serene beauty and darkness of the Twilight Realm absolutely perfectly. :D

Telma's group is cool. X3 I just love Shad, he's so cute and smart. XD

Anyhoo, shall we move on?

--~~--

Once we left the castle, we warped to Faron Woods, near the Forest Temple, to go find some clues as to where this Sacred Grove was. Zelda was pretty vague on the details, so we had to find it ourselves.

We started to go toward the Forest Temple, when suddenly we heard the sound of squealing nearby.

Over the edge of the cliffside, along the branches, was the monkey from before, the one who helped us get into the Forest Temple. She must've been running away from something because she was scared.

Suddenly, as she came to a stop, weird figures came down and closed in on her. They were made of wood, and had on shaggy, ripped cloaks. Although they seemed to be moving on their own, they moved like marionettes.

They spotted us, and then came toward us. I wasn't sure how to attack them, but decided to take them all at once. Midna enclosed them into the dark energy field, and I lashed at them all, killing them.

The monkey, suddenly realizing they were gone, turned to us. "Did... Did you save me? Th-thank you! Listen, since you're so nice, let me tell you something: there's a really pretty wooded area on the other side of this cliff! I climbed over there, but when I tried to get deeper into the woods, THOSE guys attacked me! What's in those woods, anyway?"

A pretty wooded area on the other side of the cliff? That had to be the Sacred Grove. I knew Faron Woods like the back of my hand and I was sure that there wasn't one around here, and I hardly think anyone would have thought to try to go beyond the cliff.

I nodded to the monkey in thanks and we climbed up to look over the cliff to see where we could jump to. Looking down, we couldn't see the bottom, so it was likely a long way down if we weren't careful.

Midna helped me leap over the cliff and down to the upraised roots of the tree that nested the Forest Temple, and we eventually came down through a small tunnel. There were a couple of bridges down below, and had propellers on top of them which rotated them around with the wind.

We jumped onto the bridges, and waited for them to rotate back around so we could get onto the ledge next to them. From there, we had to cross a couple of tightropes while avoiding large, wooden branches that were swinging back and forth. They looked pretty strong and would likely knock down anyone who hit them.

Once we were safely across, there was another Howl Stone. This song was the Prelude of Light. Like always, I sat down, howled the song, went into the dream-like world and howled the song with the White Wolf, who then told me where to find him next.

Afterward, we went in through the tunnel.

We came into a strange, but pretty wooded area. I guess this was the Sacred Grove. There were a few trees, and a couple of large tunnels.

Near us was another Howl Stone, but this one was different. Instead of the strange eye symbol, this one had the Triforce. It was howling Zelda's Lullaby, which was known to be the melody of Hyrule's Royal Family. I wasn't sure what it was for, but I decided to take it up anyway, I was guessing we would need it later on. So I sat down and howled the song back.

Suddenly, a strange creature hopped down from the tree in the middle of the area, grinning at us. He was holding a lantern, wearing a pointed hat, and had a horn with four trumpets. It was a Skull Kid. He giggled at us, and then blew into his trumpet, making a loud, irritating noise.

At the sound of the song, the strange puppet creatures suddenly appeared around him. His song summoned them!

The Skull Kid then went over to a tunnel, making the wooded closure disappear, and he ran off through it.

With no other option, we killed the puppets and then hurried after the Skull Kid through the tunnel he'd opened.

This went on for a while, we would go through the openings to the next area, with the puppet monsters attacking us along the way. We would find the Skull Kid playing Saria's Song on his trumpet, which would indicate he was nearby, and then take a bite out of him. But he would just giggle, summon more puppets, and then run away.

I was sure he was running away, but Midna pointed out that he was probably leading us somewhere, given his tactics. Either way, maybe he was.

We finally came to some kind of area of ruins, where the Skull Kid was standing on a pillar. He saw us, let out a cry and stomped his feet. Then he summoned more puppets with his trumpet after he disappeared, re-appearing on another spot.

So we took care of the puppets, and had to hurry to attack the Skull Kid, since he was fast and would disappear to another spot if we weren't quick enough. He summoned more puppet monsters as a distraction, which made it harder for us since every time we killed them all, he would summon more.

Finally, with one last lunge and bite, the Skull Kid cried out, but then stood back up. He then disappeared into the air like he always did, but he didn't re-appear.

"Hee hee hee! ...'Bye!" His voice rang out.

I'd seen a lot of irritating things in my life, but that Skull Kid sure did take the cake.

Another entrance then opened up for us, so we went through and came up a small hill.

We came to more ruins, and ahead of us was a large door with two large stone statues standing on either side of it.

On the middle of the ground was a round, flat platform with the Triforce embedded there.

Hmm...

I had no other option, so I sat down there and howled Zelda's Lullaby.

The mark of the Triforce then glowed beneath us, and the ground suddenly became square platforms separated by a huge, black chasm. The blue lines of the statues then glowed bright, and they seemed to come to life, jumping over to us. One of them landed on two platforms before us, and the other landed two platforms behind us.

"We are guardians of this land..." One of them said. "Guide us to where we once stood. Only then can you enter the true Sacred Grove..."

Oh, so it was some kind of a test. I guess it made sense that not just anyone could enter the Sacred Grove.

It was very hard, since the statue in front of us moved opposite, while the one behind us went the same direction we did. It took a while, jumping from platform to platform, but finally, we got them to where they'd originally stood.

The stone door then rose open, revealing a staircase on the other side.

"Go now to the sacred place, beast... We yield passage to the Sacred Grove..."

The ground returned to normal, and we hurried through the doorway and up the staircase.

Up the staircase was a small grove, and in the middle of it was a round, raised platform with a pedestal. On the pedestal, was what I could only guess was the Master Sword, to be pulled out.

Slowly, we approached the blade. It then began to glow, dully at first but then it grew bright. Before we had time to react, a force of power came from the sword and it knocked Midna off my back. I braced myself against it, and roared in determination. My body began to glow, and I could feel the twilight magic break away from me.

The dark power rose away and I was human again. Standing straight, I went to the Master Sword, grasped the hilt with both hands, and tried to lift it up. It struggled for a moment, but with a small flash of light from the blade, I pulled it out of the pedestal. It felt very powerful, and yet like an extension of my own hand.

Holding the Master Sword above my head, the dust and fog around us then cleared away.

"The sword accepted you as its master..." Midna said in awe from somewhere behind me.

I stared hard at the sword for a moment, and like my ancestor once did, I would wield this sword and vanquish the evil that plagued Hyrule. It was my destiny, as it was his.

With a few experimental swings, Midna then floated up to me, and held something in her hand. It was a strangely shaped stone, embedded with orange markings.

"This thing is the embodiment of the evil magic that Zant cast on you. It's definitely different from our tribe's shadow magic..." She explained.

I stared at the stone for a moment. I was just as curious and confused as Midna was about that strange magic.

"Careful... If you touch it, you'll turn back into a beast! This thing is too dangerous... It's probably best if we just leave it here, huh?" Midna then paused as an idea came to her. "But on the other hand...if we kept it, you'd be able to transform into a beast anytime you wanted... Yes, since Zant was kind enough to give this to us, we should be thankful and use it all we can! If you need it, just call me. I want to keep a low profile, so I'll hide in your shadow when you're human, but I can change you whenever. You can be a wolf anytime you like! Also, thanks to this thing, you can warp whenever you want by switching into wolf form..."

I had to say, that was a really good idea. Being able to transform into a wolf at will and be able to warp to places too far away was going to come in handy. Yes, it was a good idea to keep the stone that Zant had been so kind to give us.

Midna then floated over to lean against my shoulder. "Hey, but listen, Link... I've got a little favor to ask... Would you mind coming with me to find something called the Mirror of Twilight? It's hidden somewhere in Hyrule... Yes, the Mirror of Twilight.. Our last potential link to Zant!"

I nodded. I definitely wanted to go with her and take down Zant once and for all, especially after what he'd done to her. Once again, our quest was slowly going to come to an end.

But no time to think about that now.

Midna floated in front of me for a few moments, looking away a bit shyly, and then disappeared into my shadow. I then turned and exited the Sacred Grove.

After we were out, we warped to Castle Town, and were hailed by the postman. He gave me a letter from Telma that told me the people of her group had arrived at the bar and wanted me to meet them. We had no other leads, so I went into town.

Before going, I took a few minutes to explore a little.

A creepy guy named Purlo was running some kind of game he called the STAR Game. I gave it a try and won a larger quiver.

Near there was a small house where a young girl lived. Her name was Princess Agitha, and she had a huge fascination with bugs. She had invited 24 Golden Bugs to a ball, but they hadn't gotten there yet. I gave her a golden bug I'd found back in Kakariko Village. She gave me a bigger wallet and said she would pay 50 rupees for each Golden Bug I'd bring in.

Well, okay then.

Anyway, then we went off to Telma's Bar. I came inside, and Telma immediately spotted me.

"Oh my... If it isn't Link!" Telma exclaimed.

I smiled sheepishly and went to go greet her at the counter.

"You made it! How've you been, honey?! Mercy, but you have good timing. I was just talking about you!" She then called to a group of people sitting at the table at the back. "Hey, everyone! Introduce yourselves!"

I glanced at them. Weren't there four earlier? There were three of them. Oh well, I wasn't exactly concentrating on them last time we were here since I was too busy worrying about saving Midna.

"This handsome young man is the infamous Link!" Telma went on. "You remember what I told you before, honey? These are those friends I mentioned, the ones who are trying to help deal with all the troubles in Hyrule. Actually, there's one more of us, but there's been a disturbing turn of events in the eastern desert, so he's gone to check it out. He's an older man named Auru. If you happen to meet him, definitely take the time to talk with him, OK, honey? Well, you've come all the way here, honey, so why don't you relax a bit. Why don't you be sociable and talk to these folks? They're a jolly bunch!"

I decided to humour her and go talk to them. I first went to a young man with glasses and appeared to be scholar. He turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, hello there! You must be Link correct? I'm Shad. Wonderful to meet you. Telma told me all you've been up to. You're rather formidable! I'm rather NOT, I'm afraid. Well, I'm formidable at book reading, but I lack, shall we say, physical skills. That said, if the history and legends of Hyrule are your cup of tea, I'm your fellow! If you're curious, just ask away!"

Interesting. I definitely had some curious questions I bet he could answer, but I decided to save them for later.

I next greeted a woman some years older than me, she was dressed in armor.

"…It's Ashei. I grew up in the mountains with my father, who was a knight in his own right. He taught me the arts of war as though I was his son. Of course, lessons in common courtesy were not part of the regimen, so forgive me if I come off rude, yeah? Listen, before I blab both of your ears off, I want to tell you something. Snowpeak, the mountain to the north of Hyrule… It's unlike and mountain I've ever known. I don't know much yet, but things happen there on no other mountain I know of… Evil controls it… As soon as I know something more, I'll tell you. Until then, you should stay away, yeah?"

Sheesh.

There was another man sitting there, wearing a helmet. I couldn't see his face, but something about him was familiar.

I stared at him for a moment, and then realized.

"...Is that you, Rusl?" I asked him.

The man chuckled and pulled off his helmet. It WAS Rusl. "It has been a long time. Link! My wife, Uli, sent word to me. I have seen the children in Kakariko Village! And, of course, I have also heard of your adventures! I must thank you for your help with Colin, Link. I barely recognize him… In any case, I am troubled by my own inaction. I want to help the cause. These friends here… I have had a connection with them for a long while. Like the others, I am gathering information now. I will let you know if I hear anything." He put his helmet back on.

Well. What a small world. It didn't surprise me that Rusl wanted to help save Hyrule, but I certainly didn't expect him to be among Telma's group!

There was a map on the table, and I glanced at it. As I did, Telma called back to me.

"That old codger Auru is at Lake Hylia, studying the desert."

That was odd. Studying the desert at Lake Hylia? What was that about.

Oh well, we had no other leads, so maybe the desert was a good place to start in searching for any clues leading to the Mirror of Twilight.

I bid farewell to everyone and went outside. Once there, we warped to Lake Hylia.

According to the symbol on the map, it appeared that Auru was somewhere off toward the monument overlooking the lake. So we went over there and I climbed the ladder. The monument was very tall and it was a long climb, but I soon reached the top.

A man with his hood up was looking through a small telescope over at the strange pillars towering over the cliff in the distance.

"I thought it was about time for you to arrive..." The man, who I guessed was Auru, remarked and then turned around. "Master Link, is it?" He pulled down his hood so I could get a better look at him. "You do know Telma, don't you? I am Auru. I am part of the group that Telma kindly allows to meet at her bar. I have heard all about your deeds from her. Now... You being a courageous youth...You have likely heard of strange events in the desert and came to investigate, no? Or am I mistaken? You do know, don't you, Master Link?"

Auru looked toward the pillars thoughtfully.

"The Gerudo Desert once held a prison built to hold the worst criminals this land has ever known... The criminals who were sentenced to death were sent directly to the underworld by a cursed mirror that was kept in the prison... Now that prison is condemned, and even the road leading to the desert is impassable. This desert at world's end... It still holds the cursed mirror and the malice of the doomed inmates..."

Cursed mirror? Underworld? I'll bet that was the Mirror of Twilight. So it was in the desert's old prison, huh? Looks like we'd have to go there next.

"These old bones know that the evil currently plaguing Hyrule is related to this wicked place. So I have come to learn the truth." Auru went on, confirming my suspicion a little. "Master Link, I must ask... What will you do now? Don't tell me you plan to enter the desert and confirm my suspicions with your own eyes?!"

I nodded.

"Ah, is that so... Then let good Auru help you out... You see Lake Hylia below us? A man named Fyer runs an amusement ride of sorts there. Give him this." Auru handed me a piece of paper with some writing on it. "See, long ago, I saved this man Fyer's life, and now he cannot refuse me if I ask a favor. If you leave the rest up to Fyer, all should go well."

I thanked him for his help and descended the ladder, and went across the plateaus to get down to Fyer's canon.

When I reached him, I took out the note and gave it to him.

Fyer took the note and read it. "Hrrrm... From old Auru, huh... Ah well, I guess I oughta do what the old coot says... Oasis flight...right? So here you go, one of our secret options not available to the general public... This time's all paid for...so whaddaya say? You wanna go?"

I nodded.

"All righty, then... But remember, next time, you gotta pay! Sweet sailing, buddy of mine. One of oasis...fire in he hole!"

Fyer stepped aside and I went into the canon, the door shutting behind me. After a few seconds of cranking, rotating, and irritating music, the canon shot me out toward the desert.

Wheeeee!

--

We landed in the desert, which stretched out wide before us. Off in the distance to my right, was the large building that I guessed was the prison where the mirror was being held. The pillars we'd seen before were towering above inside it.

Before I started to walk off, Midna stopped me.

"Wait, Link."

I turned around to face her. She was floating near me, and brought her arms behind her back.

"Before we go on, there's something I want you to hear. ...Do you remember what the spirit said about the Fused Shadows? What do you think happened to the magic wielders who tried to rule the Sacred Realm? They were banished. They were chased across the sacred lands of Hyrule and driven into another realm by the goddesses." Midna paused for a moment before continuing. "It was another world entirely... The antithesis of Hyrule, where the sun shines bright. Its denizens became shadows that could not mingle with the light. Eventually, most came to call it the Twilight Realm, and from it, none could return to the world of light... They were forever doomed to live in the twilight, flitting in the half-light of dusk, mere shadows of Hyrule... This is the history of the Twili as it has been passed down from our ancestors... Do you understand what I am?"

I couldn't believe what she was telling me, it was unbelievable. I wondered myself what had happened to those interlopers. I was also surprised that Midna trusted me enough to tell me all this by now. I looked away for a moment, taking this in as I waited for her to continue.

"I'm a descendant of the tribe that was banished to the Twilight Realm!" Midna shouted. She calmed down after a moment and continued her story. "It was a peaceful place...until Zant took control of the Twilight Realm and transformed all of the Twili into shadow beasts. It's clear to me now that he somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to our tribe... In any case, I was sent from there, and could no longer get into the Twilight Realm without his power. ...But there's another tale told by my people. Though the goddesses forbade us to return to the world of light, they left one link between the light and darkness. Something called the Mirror of Twilight was passed to the protectors of Hyrule..."

Midna then came around in front of me, looking me in the eye. "It's our only path to the Twilight Realm...and we must get there!" She then gently lay her hand on my cheek. "You'll come with me...won't you?"

I felt my heart flutter a bit inside my chest, which was odd since I never felt this way unless Ilia was around.

Without hesitating, I smiled and nodded.

Midna looked surprised, and yet relieved. "...So Link, you don't care about the fact that I'm a descendant...of the magic wielders who were banished?"

I shook my head. "No Midna, I don't care about that. It really doesn't matter who someone's family is, since it doesn't always reflect on who they are. I don't even know my own family, they died when I was very young. But I do know one thing." I placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "You're my friend, Midna. I will help you to the very end, no matter what." My voice then dropped to a low whisper as I tried to hold back from choking up. "I want Zant dead after what he did to you, I will never forgive him. It was my fault that I wasn't able to protect you, and I thought my heart had stopped beating when you were in that state. We'll go together, and defeat Zant, for the Twilight Realm, and Hyrule."

Midna smiled at me genuinely, and then disappeared into my shadow. I felt a familiar feeling run through me then, and I looked toward the desert, ready to face the next chapter of our journey.


	19. Gerudo Desert

Hmm...not much to say about this part except for the fact that when I first played that portion of the game, I was ultimately confused and didn't know where to go.

I like the boars, though. X3 They're cool. They just need to be able to talk and have a meerkat with them. You know what I'm talking about. :D

Oh, and you know the part where I have Link use the Hawkeye to spy on the Bulblin camp? Well, that's what I like to do in the game, shooting them from a distance instead of going all the way there. XD It does work, but then they catch on and ride their boars toward you. But if you're standing on the ledge, they can't reach you!

If I used the wrong Hidden Skill, please tell me. This stupid idiot who made the visual guide didn't go to any of the Howl Stones. Dx Then again I could go check on the game, but I'm too lazy. XD

Anyhoo, on with the story.

--

Boy, Gerudo Desert sure was hot. Of course, that's what you would expect from a desert.

I heard a legend somewhere that beyond the desert, far out west, there was a tiny independent Kingdom, adjacent to Hyrule. Hmm, curious.

As I walked along the sand, I took a look around. Up ahead was the prison, known as Arbiter's Grounds, where the Mirror of Twilight supposedly rested. Facing east, where Lake Hylia was, I could see the waterfall of the river, and the large, pyramid-shaped barrier surrounding Hyrule Castle.

It was nearly nightfall, which meant that the desert would be a lot cooler. That sounded good to me.

"Link, maybe you should transform into a wolf." Midna suggested, popping out of the shadows. "It'll be easier to trek along the sand, since wolves have wide paws..."

That was true, even if the big fur coat would make me much hotter. Oh well, I'll be fine by nightfall.

I nodded, and Midna took out the stone for me to the touch, so I did, and transformed into my wolf form. Midna plopped onto my back and we continued on along the desert.

Some sand creatures kept trying to attack us, so I took care of them to prevent further obstacles. There were also some deep-looking fissures around, so we avoided those.

Up ahead of us, I noticed something odd along a rise in the sand. It looked like some kind of a monolith, and there was something familiar about it. So I stood on a rough ground and used my clawshot to hook onto a strange flying creature known as a peahat to get up there.

Once we got up there, we were ambushed by shadow beasts. So we killed them and then made another portal. Good, we were able to warp here now.

When I got a closer look at the monolith, I realized that it was the missing piece to the Bridge of Eldin!

Midna popped out of the shadows as I approached it, studying it.

"What is this thing?" She asked.

"It's the piece of the Bridge of Eldin that was taken by the twilight magic. Remember, Midna? After we crossed the bridge, part of it was taken away, rendering it uncrossable." I said.

"Oh... Well, then we should take it back!"

Midna coated the bridge piece with her twilight hand hair, and lifted it up toward the portal, where it dissolved into twilight squares. We then followed it suit to the Bridge of Eldin.

The piece of the bridge repositioned where it once was, just in time for when we landed on it, since the portal was located right above where the gap had once been.

"Hey, that was pretty handy!" Midna said. "C'mon Link, let's go back to the desert."

I nodded and then we warped back to the desert.

--

Once we got back, we continued along to get to Arbiter's Grounds. I then noticed a campfire going in the distance, near two tall wooden posts. So I stood on the ledge and took out the Hawkeye to see into the distance.

There were Bulblins situated there, with two on the lookout posts, along with two large boars. So this was where they resided, in the desert, the last place anyone would think to look of them, and away from Hyrule. Well.

I then got an idea.

With the help of the Hawkeye, I used my bow and arrows to shoot down the bulblins on the posts. The other four saw this, and then came running on their boars. With a few careful aims, I shot them off their boars and then continued on our way.

The entrance leading to the prison was blocked by wooden posts, and they were very thick, so I wouldn't be able to cut through them with my sword, I couldn't burn them down, and running into them as a wolf was out of the question. They were also dug some ways under the ground, so I couldn't dig either.

Great, now how were we going to get through?

"Link, why don't you use those boars?" Midna said from the shadows. "They look pretty strong, maybe if you rode one, you could knock down the wood?"

It was worth a try. The boars had saddles and reigns, so they would be easy to control.

I went over to one of them, and carefully climbed onto the saddle. It didn't seem to care that much, so that was a good sign. I patted it on the head, and then gently nudged its ribs with my heels.

Suddenly, the boar reared onto its hind legs for a minute, let out a grunting growl, and then charged toward the gate, really fast. I yelped out and nearly fell of the saddle as I was hanging off it like the tail of a kite. I managed to hold onto the reigns as the boar charged, and crashed through the blocked gate.

As it slowed down, I managed to take control and stop the boar. Shaken up, I hopped off of its back and staggered a bit from the ride. Wow, I hope I never have to do that again.

Then again, somehow, I expected to.

I patted the boar on the shoulder, and then let it drink a few sips of spring water that I'd put into my bottle before coming here. Then we headed up a few ledges toward the prison.

The White Wolf was waiting for me nearby, so I went to it and the Hero's Shade taught me the next hidden skill: the mortal draw.

Afterward, we were then ambushed by more bulblins. With really no other option, I took care of them all, and even transformed into a wolf to make the process go faster.

As we went along, I noticed that the attacks were because of a couple of bulblins on a few posts. So I took care of them also.

Around a corner, was a bulblin sitting next to a fire, rotating a boar. I also noticed that it had a key. I wasn't sure what it was for, but I figured it would help. So I killed the monster and took the key.

Once the bulblins were taken care of, we came to the entrance of Arbiter's Grounds. The problem was, the path leading to it was blocked off by wooden posts, like from before. And there was more than one along the path. I would need one of those boars, but there were none around and it would be impossible to get any up here.

Behind me, was a locked gate. I wasn't sure what was inside, but I unlocked the padlock, pushed it open and went inside. There was nothing in the room except a sliding door, and a boar. Hey, there we go!

The gate suddenly closed up behind me. Weird.

As I approached the boar, I suddenly heard thundering footsteps nearby, and out of the shadows came our old friend, King Bulblin. Great.

He was carrying an ax, which he used to knock away the boar, and me. I was sent flying, and lay there on the ground in a daze for a few moments before I stood back up and drew my sword.

The ax was really strong, so I had to be careful not to get hit by it again. Luckily, after King Bulblin would swing it, it slowed him down and he was unable to attack right away, so it bought me time to run in and let my newly acquired Master Sword have its say.

It was hard dodging the ax, since it was also really long, but I managed to backflip and roll out of the way of its oncoming attacks, and then finished off the ogre.

King Bulblin fell to the ground stunned. He then rose to his feet, clutching his injured shoulder. He cast a glare at me, and then limped his way out through the other sliding door, with it sliding shut behind him.

Suddenly, the enclosure burst into flames! And we were trapped, there was no way out except the gate. It wouldn't open, so we'd need the boar.

Lucky for us, the boar, who had been lying there in a daze, stood back up. I hopped onto the saddle and had it charge out of the place, crashing through the gate and all the other posts blocking our way to the prison.

We finally got there, and I hopped off the boar, going up the stairs and through the entrance to Arbiter's Grounds.


	20. Arbiter's Grounds

Wow, so here we are, Arbiter's Grounds. My brother really likes this temple, along with the Temple of Time. It's okay to me, but it's reaaallly long! Ugh. Dx But whatever.

Oh my God, I remember when I first played the second half of the battle against Stallord, and I heard the music for it, I was all "Hey...I recognize that music..." and then as it progressed I realized it was the same music from the King Dodongo and Vovalgia battles from _Ocarina of Time_! I was so surprised and all like, "Awesome!" and stuff. I like the way it was composed for TP, it sounded a lot cooler.

But I do like the original, don't get me wrong. XD

Oh, and I love how Midna opens the doors of the dungeon with her hand hair. XD I remember once I was a wolf for some portion of the dungeon, and I came to a door, and I saw that you could open it as a wolf, so I was curious and tried it, and Midna opens the door! Haha! XD Nice!

Anyway, onward!

--

We came into Arbiter's Grounds, which didn't look much like a prison. There was quicksand almost everywhere, and a lot of rooms, from what I could see.

There was a small tub that contained lantern oil, so I used that to refill my lantern and put some in a bottle for later. That was handy. It was a good thing since I had to use my lantern in some dark rooms and to light torches.

Up ahead in what I guessed was the "main" room, there was a doorway ahead, and a few other doors going left and right, and some above us.

Before we could go on, four lanterns suddenly floated into the room. Since I wasn't in my wolf form, I guessed they were carried by poes. The lanterns were differently shaped.

But then they floated to the torches near the large doorway up ahead, lit with blue fire, and the lanterns swiped at the fire, taking them. A sliding door then came down, shutting away the doorway. Great.

Three of the lanterns slinked away, but one remained. So I transformed into a wolf and honed my senses. Sure enough, they were poes, but a different kind of poe. These guys had long, legless bodies, a hooded cloak, and each holding a lantern with their hands. They also had creepy faces, eye sockets and a wide-open mouth. Very creepy.

We killed the poe, and like the others from before, it drew a soul and we removed it. It lay there on the floor, screaming out before it went limp. The lantern then broke, and the blue flame went flying back to its original torch. Now we had to get the other three.

I then saw that the poe was emitting a scent, so I sniffed it and learned the scent of the poes. I could see why, so we could track down the other three in order to keep going.

The scents led in three different directions, so I picked on and we continued on our way.

We later ran into this strange monster, that I think was known as ReDead. It walked stiffly like a mummy, and it would cry out a deafening, piercing shriek in order to make you freeze, and then it would raise its sword and slice at you.

Just as it did on me, Midna popped out of the shadows and shoved me out of the way when the creature's sword came crashing down. I would've been sliced in half or have lost my head at best if it weren't for her.

"Be careful Link, you'll have to attack that thing from a distance!" Midna scolded. "...Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told her. "Thanks for that, I would've been dead if it weren't for you."

"Right." I could tell she was feeling a bit embarrassed, which was pretty cute. "C'mon Link, let's go find the rest of the poes!"

With some bomb arrows, I killed the ReDead and we continued in searching for the first poe.

It was easy trying to find the first two poes, but when we came to the third one, this one had three copies, including itself, surround us, and we had to find the real one.

Luckily, it was easy, since the poes would flash purple in the closest thing to a solid form, and I knew which one was the real one.]

After we killed them all, we returned to the main room, seeing the blue flames return to their torches. Sure enough, the door raised up, allowing us to go through.

Oh, and guess who we found later on? Yep, Ooccoo. I still don't know how she was getting into the dungeons before us, but it didn't matter. We took her with us and continued on.

Later, we came to this dark room, which I guessed was the middle boss's room. There was a large, guillotine sword sunken partway into the ground, with a few ropes holding it down that contained special seals.

Suddenly, the ropes burned down and then the sword started to move...on its own. There was _no one_ holding the sword! I wasn't sure if it was some kind of poe or not, but it was impossible to attack.

Taking a chance, I transformed into a wolf and honed my senses. Sure enough, there was some kind of a ghostly monster holding the sword. Like the poes, it would retain a solid form for a few seconds, which allowed me to attack it.

After I did, it retained its solid form to the naked eye, so I transformed back into my human form to battle it. The monster rose into the air, swirling around, and since I had no other way of getting it down, I shot it with an arrow. It would then try to attack me on the ground with its sword, and because it was large and long, it slowed him down. So I let my own sword have its say.

After repeating this process a couple of times, the monster let out an agonizing wail, the sword exploded, and its body dematerialized into tiny little bats that flew off away.

There was a small room adjoined to this one, so I went in and saw a chest. I guessed it was the item we'd achieve in the dungeon, like the others. So I went to it and popped the lid. It was the Spinner, an ancient rotating machine with a small button that activated the motor, where you would stand on it and it would spin around on the ground. It was also helpful for wall rails, and even attacking enemies.

I could see now that the only way out of here was to use the spinner along the jagged rails in the wall, so I kicked on the motor and used it along the wall. It was pretty cool!

Finally, after we'd tracked down the Boss Key and came to the Boss Chamer, we unlocked the large door, and went through.

The room was very round, with a sand pit. Inside the sand pit were the skull and arms to a fossilized monster. On the other side of the pit opposite from us, was a barred door that lead someplace else, probably to the Mirror of Twilight.

Suddenly, an evil chuckle rang through the dark room, and then Zant suddenly appeared on the fossil's skull. I angrily drew my sword, glaring hatefully at him. So he wanted to fight. That was fine with me, I could finally kill him after what he did to Midna.

"You still live..." Zant said mockingly. "How astonishing. No wonder some call you "hero". But this is truly a bittersweet reunion. ...Truly! For I fear this is the last time I see you alive!"

Before we could do anything, Zant suddenly brought his hands before him and summoned the strange, red orbed power like from before. It then became a long, dark sword with red markings along the blade. He plunged the blade into the skull of the fossil, with the red energy lines running through it.

Zant then disappeared, and Midna popped out of the shadows, shaking her fist at the ceiling.

"You coward! Come back here and fight like a man!" She yelled.

I did agree with her, but something else then caught my attention. I noticed the fossil's eyes glow red.

I placed a hand on Midna's shoulder, and then pointed down toward the fossil. She saw what I'd seen and gasped.

The fossilized monster moved its head, slowly picking itself up from the sand. I saw now that the sword had given it life! Its top half rose up from the sand, and roared in our faces. It was Stallord, a legendary monster that had been dead for many years.

Only its top half was risen above the sand, so it couldn't get up and walk. But it was still dangerous, since it had a large body, long arms, and was shooting strange black fire from its mouth. Luckily, it was stationary so we were able to avoid its blows.

I saw we could use the spinner along the edge of the pit to avoid from sinking into the sand, so I kicked on the motor and we went around, with Midna grabbing onto my shoulder so she wouldn't go flying off.

"Link, we have to do something about the sword on its head, it's the source of its life and power!" Midna said, pointing toward it.

"How are we going to do that? I'm not that tall, and the sword is all the way on its head! We'd have to get him down to our level somehow!" I told her.

Midna looked around the fossilized monster and then pointed to its spine. "Its spine! If we could somehow break down its spine, it'll fall down and we'll be able to withdraw the sword!"

Studying the monster, I could see it was our best-and only-good option.

"OK, I'll do that. Get in the shadows, I don't want you getting hurt." I said.

With a nod, Midna disappeared back into my shadow and I leaped into action.

Using the spinner, I made my way down into the sand pit toward the end of its spine. It was already weak, so it was easy to tear through it with the spinner's help. The spine cracked, and Stallord's upper body fell more into the sand. It worked!

We had to repeat the process a few times, but it was harder after this point since strange monster rose up from the sand as we approached, wearing shaggy cloaks with swords and shields. Luckily one hit from the spinner sent them back to the graves.

Finally, we cracked Stallord's spine enough, and it fell into the sand, its eyes going out and becoming lifeless again.

The sand sunk down into the ground, where Stallord's skull lay, pretty lifeless. There was also one of those holes in the floor that I used the spinner on. So I went over and used the spinner in the hole. The round ground around us then rose up into the air, revealing to be a long platform, with jagged edges along it that I could use the spinner on. We were back up to the level of the entrance, and the other doorway.

Now what? We had to cross over to get to the doorway, but there was a long gap.

"Link! Behind you!" Midna suddenly yelled.

I quickly turned around, and saw Stallord's head floating above the ground behind me. It was still alive! I drew my sword, and it lunged at me. I fell off the platform, and down onto the ground. Luckily, it was sand so it didn't take much off of me.

Once I got up, I saw that Stallord's head had come down to our level, and then it went around to the other side. So I kicked the spinner into gear and used it along the platform, going up, and around.

After a few moments, I then saw Stallord's head facing us, having beaten us around the side. It shot a fire ball at me, and I used the spinner to kick off the side, locking onto the opposite wall that also had ledges. Stallord fired again, and I kicked off to the other wall, getting closer and closer. Before it could open its mouth to fire again, I launched toward it on the spinner, knocking into its face.

The skull fell to the ground, and I hopped off the spinner, going at it and drawing my sword, stabbing at the sword lodged into its head, trying to dislodge it. I managed to get a few good hits before Stallord regained itself and then flew around the platform out of sight again. So I kicked the motor into gear and hurried after it on the spinner.

I repeated the process a couple of more times, and then finally, I jabbed the Master Sword deep into Stallord's forehead where the sword was lodged in. The skull then roared in agony before it bounded off away down off the platform. I rode up to the top, just as the sword exploded into the nothing, as did its head.

A stone pathway then came out from the wall, connecting to the platform, and the other doorway raised up to reveal the entrance to the next room, where the Mirror of Twilight was.

Midna popped out of the shadows. "All right, Link, let's go! We're close to the Mirror of Twilight..."

I nodded, and then we went across the bridge over to the doorway where we went through. We were one step closer to the Mirror of Twilight, to defeating Zant.

Of course, that's exactly what we thought back in the Lakebed Temple when we got the last Fused Shadow.


	21. Journey to Snowpeak

You know, I was pretty shocked myself to find the Mirror of Twilight broken up like it was, the first time I played that part of the game. I should've figured something would happen, or that it would have been like Majora's Mask, where we only did four temples.

I also knew that Ganondorf was in the game (I watched my brother beat it), but I didn't know how he came into play and all. It was cool having my question answered!

But seriously, he comes back EVERY. SINGLE. GAME. What the hell?! The only game I know of now that he didn't come back in was _Majora's Mask_! ...Well, technically sort of since that's the direct sequel to _Ocarina of Time_, and now this is the next sequel, and he's baaaack. Great.

Oh, and does anyone but me wish that the Sages were the Sages from _Ocarina of Time_? Wouldn't that have been so awesome? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind these guys, I just think it would've been way cooler if it was Saria and Darunia and everyone.

Oh yeah, and one last thing. I got the Link taking a nap idea from Ferngirl's fic. X3 Although I added a little different touch to it. Besides, I thought it was cute, and a good idea to have Link nap.

WARNING: A little bit more LinkxMidna than before...X3

--

We exited the Boss Chamer and came outside in this round chamber. There was a statue in the centre, that could be climbed up using the Spinner. As we came in, we were once again ambushed by shadow beasts, so we took care of them and created another portal.

I then went to the statue, kicked the Spinner on and went up to the top.

There was a hole meant for the Spinner to use, so I used it in the hole and the statue sank down to the ground under the sand, while the pillars we'd seen before rose up into the air, bringing up this large, black rock that was held by chains, from the sand. A platform also raised up nearby, with a frame on it.

Curious, I looked around for the Mirror of Twilight, and then Midna popped out from the shadows. She floated over to the platform, rose up above it, and then suddenly gasped. She let out an angered cry and then collapsed down onto the platform, sobbing.

I hurried up onto the platform by the small stairs to see what was wrong, and I immediately saw why.

The Mirror of Twilight wasn't there. In its frame, there was one piece of a circular mirror, but that was it. I could see there was supposed to be four.

Zant must have done this, seeing our progress and all. So he shattered the mirror in order to prevent us from getting to him in the Twilight Realm. I couldn't believe it, we'd come this close to defeating him, and once again, he was one step ahead of us.

Now what were we going to do?!

I couldn't stand seeing Midna upset and crying, it tugged at my heartstrings. Suddenly, I noticed something up above us and looked up to the strange pillars. Midna must've felt it too because she stood up by the mirror and looked up also.

Floating above each pillar were strange ghostly figures. They had long cloaks, with the symbol of their respective pillar on the front, which I remembered reading in the legends that they were of the original elements of the Sages; Light, Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow and Spirit. They had no real faces, just masks floating a few inches from their heads, and strange hats above their heads.

"A dark entity lurks in the twilight... It houses an evil power..." One of them said.

"You who are guided by fate... You who possess the crest of the goddesses... Hear us."

We couldn't tell which of them was talking, but they all seemed to know what the other wanted to say next.

"At the command of the goddesses, we sages have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times."

"You seek it...but the Mirror of Twilight has been fragmented by mighty magic. That magic is a dark power that only he possesses..."

"His name is... Ganondorf."

Ganondorf? I thought for sure they were going to say Zant at that, but no. Ganondorf, I heard about him somehow. Apparently he was the King of the Gerudo, and became evil with great mighty magic and tried to take over the Sacred Realm, then my ancestor, the Hero of Time, had defeated him.

How did he tie into any of this? How was he still alive?

The Sages then launched into a story, showing us projectile images of their memories.

"He was the leader of a band of thieves who invaded Hyrule in the hopes of establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm. He was known as a demon thief, an evil-magic wielder renowned for his ruthlessness..."

We saw the image of Ganondorf on a dark demon horse, and behind him was a wall of red-hot fire.

"But he was blind..." The Sages continued. "In all of his fury and might, he was blind to any danger, and thus was he exposed, subdued, and brought to justice."

They showed us the image of the Mirror Chamber, with Ganondorf bound by chains around his wrists against the large, black rock. The Sages were standing before him, and there was six of them instead of five.

The Sage closest to Ganondorf then had a sword rise up, and stab him in the stomach. He was being executed. This was what Auru meant by Arbiter's Grounds being a prison. The Sages passed on judgment and executed the criminals.

But it didn't stop there as the Sages continued with their story.

"Yet..."

The image then showed the mark of the Triforce appear on the back of Ganondorf's right hand. Unbelievable! He also had the crest of the goddesses! But how?

Ganondorf then seemed to re-live as he freed his wrists from the shackles binding him.

"By some divine prank, he, too, had been blessed with the chosen power of the gods."

That was when Ganondorf lunged forward and grabbed at the Sage who stood before him, and the Sage turned into dust, having obviously been killed. The other Sages were recoiling in terror, seeing what they were up against. Ganondorf cackled, and then withdrew the sword from his chest.

The Sages then all turned to the Mirror of Twilight, which sat as a whole at the time on the platform. They raised their hands toward it, and the Mirror lit up, tilting back slightly in its frame. The holy light sent a cascade of circles toward the rock, with the Triforce in the middle of them all. The rock reflected the image of the mirror, along with other twilight markings along it. Ganondorf struggled, and the sword went flying back into the void, then his body dematerialized into twilight squares, also disappearing into the void formed in the rock.

Now back in reality, the Sages were feeling saddened at the loss of their fellow Sage. That was when we noticed that one of the pillars was cracked, and no Sage above it.

"His abiding hatred and lust for power turned to purest malice..."

"Perhaps that evil power has been passed on to Zant..."

Of course, it all made sense now. Because Ganondorf possessed a great, evil power, sending him into the Twilight Realm gave him the opportunity to pass his power onto Zant. That was what Midna meant when she said Zant possessed a different power, it was because he had Ganondorf's power!

Midna was apparently thinking the same thing. She was sitting on the mirror's frame against the remaining piece. "You're just now figuring out where Zant got his power? It's far too late..."

"Only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight...so Zant could merely break it into pieces. Once broken by magic, the Mirror of Twilight became fragments, which even now lie hidden across the land of Hyrule." The Sages went on.

So Midna was right, Zant's leadership was false after all. Now there was hope in restoring the Mirror of Twilight, since Zant couldn't destroy it completely. Where were the fragments?

"One is in the snowy mountain heights..."

"One is in an ancient grove..."

"And one is in the heavens..."

Midna floated over to me and leaned against my shoulder.

"You who have been sent by the goddesses... You should be able to gather the three pieces... But you must be prepared, for a dangerous power resides in those fragments..."

Midna and I glanced at each other and nodded, then she disappeared into my shadow.

So now, we had to find the three fragments of the Mirror of Twilight. Apparently they possessed the same kind of power as the Fused Shadows, given what the Sages said.

Since we didn't know where any of those places were, we decided to go back to Telma's Bar and see if the group had any leads. Maybe they could somehow give us a clue and show us where these places were.

--

We arrived in Castle Town later on, and came into Telma's Bar. Telma greeted me as we came in.

"How's that Ilia doing, Honey? I'm sure that shaman will find a way to get her memory back. That Renado is a talented man, for sure!"

I stifled a laugh at that. Yep, she definitely liked him. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Ilia since we'd escorted her and Ralis to Kakariko Village, but I wasn't too worried. I knew she and the kids were in good hands, and I was sure Ralis was doing better.

"Anyway, honey, you've got your own things to worry about, so you just make sure you do what needs doing right now, OK? Now, I'm not doubting you, honey, but if you're wondering what you ought to be doing, you ought to go talk to our friend Ashei. She's up on Hyrule's northern mountain checking things out, and she's got good instincts, trust me. If you need detailed directions, just take a peek at that map on the table."

We went over to the table in the back. Auru, Shad and Rusl were still there, and Ashei was gone. Glancing at the map, I noticed a symbol near...Zora's Domain?

"Ashei mentioned Snowpeak Mountain and headed off."

So, a snowy mountain known as Snowpeak, near Zora's Domain? That was probably where the Mirror of Twilight fragment was.

I thanked Telma, and then left the bar. Once outside, we warped to Zora's Domain.

--

Once we arrived, we explored a little. According to the map, there was a small cavern that lead to Snowpeak. When we found it, I realized it was the same spot where the wall of ice had been blocking it when we first came here in the twilight.

We went through the cavern, where it became colder. Outside, we came to a snowy rise overlooking a large, frozen pond. There was a blizzard, making it hard to see into the distance, with only a few cliff peaks around.

I started slightly as I saw something standing near me, and then it turned around, revealing to have a strange-looking face.

"Link." It said, and then armored hands came up to remove a specially-made headpiece, for protection against the cold. It was Ashei, in a fur coat. "What are you doing in a dangerous place like this? Ever since Zora's Domain got covered in ice, this mountain's been much colder than usual, yeah? Not only that, but I heard a really weird story from the Zoras. Apparently, the beast that lives somewhere on this mountain has been seen frequently in Zora's Domain. I was curious, so I came and waited...and as they'd said, a giant appeared! Yeah, it looked like this..."

Ashei reached into her pocket, and then handed me a slip of paper. It was a hastily drawn sketch of a strange, giant beast holding a red fish.

"Apparently, this thing's been stealing red fish from the village." Ashei continued. "I want to investigate further...but I can't even see the path through this blizzard, yeah? I'm sure you're here because you're curious about the mountain, but you'd best not go without a plan."

True, even as a wolf I bet it would be hard to get through the blizzard. I thanked Ashei and then went through the tunnel back to Zora's Domain. Maybe I could get some information from the Zoras about this beast that lived in Snowpeak, and get some leads on how to get up the mountain.

There was a Zora stationed near the entrance to Snowpeak, so I showed it the sketch.

"Excuse me, can you tell me something about the beast of Snowpeak?" I asked him.

The Zora studied the sketch. "Oh! That's the beast of Snowpeak all right. And that red fish it's holding...yes, it must be a reekfish. Wow, I didn't think anyone could catch one of those but Prince Ralis."

Prince Ralis, huh? I guess that meant we should go talk to him. He was still in Kakariko, so we warped off to Kakariko Village.

--

When we got there, we inquired to Renado where Ralis was by now.

"He usually spends his days at the graveyard, by his father's grave." Renado explained. "He has recuperated well since his stay here, but his mother's death greatly consumes him."

I thanked him and headed off toward the graveyard. I felt tired and let out a really loud yawn.

Renado must've heard me. "Link, I think you should rest for a while. You seem quite tired. Have you gotten enough sleep?"

Actually, I hadn't. I'd barely slept since going out there and finding the Fused Shadows and everything thereafter. I'd only taken a few short naps since the whole quest started. Midna didn't need as much sleep as I did, since she spent her time in the shadows or on my back, only dozing when I would nap.

"I'm fine, really." I said, stifling another yawn.

"You have displayed great and honourable courage, Link. There is no reason you can't take time for yourself and rest. It is important, you need your energy for the trials ahead. You can sleep in the inn for a while, and I will see to no one disturbing you."

I was about to protest again, but Midna then reached out from the shadows and pinched me hard on the leg.

"Owww! All right, okay. I'll go take a quick nap."

So I went over to the inn, waving to Colin as I passed by. The inn was empty now, so it was a good time to take an undisturbed nap.

I settled onto the bed and lay there, falling asleep within a few moments.

--

I woke up a few hours later, and found a really odd surprise. Midna had come out of the shadows and snuggled up to me as I was sleeping. She was still dozing softly, making little snoring noises, her little face looking peaceful for a change. She looked really cute. Awwww....

So she wouldn't wake to me staring at her, I sat up in the bed and stretched. It roused Midna since she awoke too.

"...I was cold, okay? You were warm, so I decided to use you as a blanket." Midna explained, her cheeks a bit pink.

"I don't mind, Midna." I said, getting up. "C'mon, we better go see Ralis."

Midna nodded and disappeared into my shadow.

We went outside and to the graveyard, and through the tunnel where King Zora's grave was. Sure enough, Ralis was there, kneeling before the grave.

I jumped into the water and swam over to the little island. Ralis saw me approach and stood as I came up. He seemed to be doing a lot better since I last saw him, that was good.

Ralis gasped when he saw me. "Is... Is your name Link? My mother came to me in a dream... She showed me your image. She spoke of a youth who would save our domain and steer my fate. One named Link. I must thank you for all you've done. If there is anything I can ever do for you, please tell me. Please..."

I pulled out Ashei's sketch and showed it to him.

"Hmm... The beast of the snowy mountain...perhaps?" He said, studying the sketch. "But more important is this red fish it is holding... It must be a reekfish. That is a rare specimen found only in the Zora village. It feeds on a valuable type of coral, and without that bait, even our best fishers cannot catch one. Look closely, Link... My earring is made of this coral. I would like to give it to you."

Ralis took off his earring and handed it to me. It was a lovely piece of coral in the shape of a fish hook.

"I received it from my mother..." Ralis admitted. "But it is fine. I no longer need it. As I look at you, I get a sense of what my mother wanted, what I should be doing now... I will return to my village. The reekfish can be found near the Mother and Child Rocks in the waterfall basin near my village. The fish are red, so I think you should be able to spot them..."

OK, so we had to catch a reekfish in order to somehow make our way up Snowpeak. I thanked Ralis for the information and left the little spring, where we then warped back to Zora's Domain.

--

Once we got back there, the Mother and Child Rocks weren't hard to find, and since I could see red fish swimming near them, I figured that's where we were supposed to go.

I took out the fishing rod and sat up against a rock, tossing the bobber in with the bait attached. Midna came out of the shadows and sat next to me, very close. She dipped her tiny feet into the water.

"Taking a break too, I see." I commented.

"Even I need a break too, Link." Midna retorted, but smiled.

We sat there for a little while, completely relaxed. I held the fishing rod as I patiently waited for a fish to bite on it, and Midna just sat there, kicking her little feet in the water a little.

I sneaked a glance at her. When I first met her, back in the dungeon of the Hyrule Castle Sewers, I'd thought she looked really strange and shocking. But now, I had to admit that she was really cute in her own right.

Since the whole incident with Zant back when we'd retrieved the last Fused Shadow, we were a lot closer and she wasn't as cynical or demeaning as before. She was kinder, less bossy, even if she retained her witty, devilish and sarcastic side.

I was curious about her life, what it was like living in the Twilight Realm and all. I never got a chance to ask, and it never came up. Oh well, maybe later on next time we catch a break.

"I think you've got a taker, Link!" Midna suddenly said, pointing toward the water.

I felt a tug on the line, and so I shot to my feet, pulling in the rod. Sure enough, I brought it out and caught a 25-inch reekfish, which looked like a big red salmon. I dropped it to the ground where it flopped about it, gasping for air.

It STANK!

"Ewwwww!!" Midna gagged. "The fish sure lives up this name!"

"I had to catch this stinky fish why?" I covered my nose.

Midna thought for a moment, also holding her tiny nose. "...Wait, I know! The beast of Snowpeak caught a reekfish, right? So if we follow the scent of a reekfish, it'll take us to the beast! We'll be able to make our way up the mountain and find leads on where the mirror shard is!"

I made a face and stared at the fish. "You're kidding, right? I have to actually SMELL that fish?!"

"Come on Link, if you can face all the dungeons and monsters we'd gone through so far, you can take the smell of a reekfish!" Midna said, taking out the stone spike that was Zant's curse. "Here, turn into a wolf. It'll make it easier tracking down the scent."

That would just make the smell even worse to me! But we had to get the mirror shard and following a scent was the only way through that blizzard.

I touched the stone and turned into a wolf, sniffing the smell of the reekfish. It was AWFUL! I choked a bit, but tried to keep my composure. I remembered the smell of the fish, and then nudged it back into the water with my nose.

Once the worst of the smell passed, we then swam across the water to the cavern and went into Snowpeak.

--

It was a lot colder in Snowpeak now as we ventured further, but I had a fur coat so it didn't bother me as much. But since Midna was riding on my back, she took it a lot harder than I did since she was clutching me tightly.

Once we find leads, maybe we could nestle in a cave or something for a few minutes.

We followed the scent of the reekfish through the blizzard, and going through the deep snow as a wolf was easier than if I'd been human. Some monster white wolves attacked us, but I sped on to get passed them.

We made our way up the mountain, and soon came to a Howl Stone perched on ledge. I howled the song back, and the White Wolf told me where to find him next.

Afterward, we kept going and then soon came to the scent leading into the ground. I could see with my senses that we could dig though it, so I dug in through and came to an underground cavern, where I shook the snow off my fur.

I let Midna rest a few minutes and warm up, since by now she was pretty cold. She even used my fur as a bit of a blanket, before I transformed into a human to give her break in the shadows.

I climbed up a few ledges and up a ladder, eventually coming to a door with hands imprinted on it. So I opened and came back outside. A few ice keese were flying around, and then shadow beasts came in. We took care of them and created another portal, so we could get back here.

Up on a ledge nearby was a tree with icy leaves, and there was something big right near it. The scent led to there, so I cautiously approached.

It was the beast of Snowpeak. It was huge, with a largely shaped tail, and wore a saddle for a hat. In its hand was the reekfish. Studying the beast, I realized it was a yeti, a creature that dwelled in snowy mountains.

The yeti looked at me and smiled. He had big round eyes and huge teeth. "Uh! Whoa-ho! I heard ruckus, and uh! Just a human! I see humans not often, uh? Why human come to snows? You...on spiritual journey? You look for true self?"

I was relieved since the yeti was a nice guy, and not some kind of a monster that was out wreaking havoc. I did read that yetis were usually kind creatures and liked humans.

"Actually, I'm looking for the shard of a mirror that's said to be somewhere here in this snowy mountain." I told him.

"...Uh. You look for mirror in such faraway place..." Said the yeti. "But you make good climb! And lucky to meet me! I found shiny mirror piece. Same mirror you look for, uh? Uh! You come to house and see yourself! I caught fish. I make you hot meal, at least... My house far away... We slide there, uh? Do like me! Come!"

The yeti went over to the tree, and punched the trunk. A chunk of ice in the shape of a leaf fell from the tree. The yeti jumped onto it, sticking one foot on it. He then slid down the hill on the ice piece like a sled. Ah, OK.

I went over to the tree and rolled into it, giving it a good kick. An ice leaf fell to the snowy ground. I went over and stepped on it, both my feet fit onto it. I slid down the hill, using one foot to gain friction, and slid down the hill.

There was a gap up ahead, and I heard Midna warn me about it, but it was okay. I crouched low, and then sailed over the gap!

It was pretty fun, sledding down the hill like this.

"Hey, how come you get all the fun?!" Midna popped out of the shadows, and then grabbed onto me around my neck so she could sled with me.

I didn't care, it was a fun idea being able to share the joy of sledding together.

We had a few close calls in sledding over and past some trees, and then along the cliffside with a chasm on one side. Luckily, we made it just fine to where the yeti lived.

To our surprise, it was a colossal mansion, right on the edge of the mountain. What was a mansion like this doing here? I expected he would live in a big cave or something, and yet his house was bigger and nicer than my own!

Midna must've been thinking the same thing I was. "...Here? What's with this guy? He's got a nice place...for a beast-man."

Despite that, at least it would be warm inside. So we went up the front steps and inside the mansion.


	22. Snowpeak Ruins

I like Snowpeak Ruins, despite some of the puzzles are incredibly tedious. It's pretty refreshing in a way, you know?

Oh, and I just love it when Link found the pumpkin and cheese, and his smile abruptly became a look of disappointment, so funny! X3

I love Yeto, he's so awesome. And Yeta's so cute and sweet! They just plain rock.

By the way, if you look at Link's reflection when Yeta's looking into the mirror shard, you'll see him nod at one point! xD

And I thought it'd be nice if Link shared the soup with Midna, aww. :D

Anyway, onward!

--

Inside the mansion, part of the roof was broken, the staircase to my left was partly destroyed, and there was ice on some areas of the floor. So part of the place was in ruins, huh? Oh well, it was still warm inside.

There was a poe inside near the front door, so we killed it and took its soul. Afterward, we went in through the door ahead of us.

It was warmer inside this room, since nothing was broken. There was a fire going in the fireplace, and a couple of couches near it.

Against one couch near the fire was another yeti, who was a lot smaller than Yeto, the other yeti.

"...Who?" She said, noticing us. "Uh... Sorry... I have sickness, uh... Come closer, uh?"

I approached the female yeti. I thought for a moment she was armless, but I saw that she was just wearing a sleeveless sweater, since it had a diamond pattern along it. Her face peeked out from a headpiece she was wearing.

"You cute little human. Husband told me you come." Said the yeti. "You want to look at mirror, uh? My husband found it, but it pretty thing, uh. But...since I get mirror, I get sick, and then bad monsters appear... So many bad things happen since mirror... So we lock bedroom on third floor where it hangs, uh? Wait...I tell you where key is..."

So this was Yeto's wife? Wow. That mirror piece definitely sounded like a shard of the Mirror of Twilight.

She then took the map sitting on the little table and handed it to me. "Fever makes head blurry, but... It probably here in the room marked by this symbol..." She pointed toward the symbol. "But right now...can't even get up. Would you bring it to me, uh? Start with door right here..."

She gestured to the door behind us.

I thanked her for the map and then went through that door, coming into a kitchen. Yeto was standing by a large, boiling pot. He looked up when I came in and grinned. "Uh! You!"

I went over to him, and to see what he was cooking.

"Wife...look bad, uh? Not healthy since mirror... So I make soup for her. Fish from Zora village are most nutritious! You tired, uh? You have some! It give you energy!"

I stepped up onto a crate next to the pot and peered into it. It smelled fishy, but I was pretty hungry, and I was too polite to refuse. So I put some in a bottle and tasted it.

Mm, not bad at all. It was missing something, but it really wasn't bad. When we were out of his sight, I gave it to Midna to drink.

"It's missing something." Midna said, handing the bottle to me. "Oh well, it's not that bad."

And guess who was in the same room? Right. Oocoo. How she made it here, I'll never know.

We followed the map, going to the room marked with the symbol. There were a couple of outdoor areas of the mansion, I guessed so the yetis could feel comfortable with both the warmth of their shelter and the cold of the snowy outdoors and at all times. Smart.

There were some annoying monsters along the way, but we managed to take care of them.

Soon we finally came to the room marked by the symbol. But a couple of ice soldier monsters attacked us, and they were tough nuts to crack, but I defeated them, and went into the adjoining room to where the treasure chest lay.

I popped open the lid and pulled out the key inside, but my smile dropped when I saw that it wasn't a key, but an Ordon Pumpkin. What? What was a pumpkin doing here?

Midna popped out of the shadows, staring at it. "What's this? This isn't right! She got the wrong location. Want to go back and try to get her to remember where the key is?"

She went back into the shadows and we made our way back, coming into the kitchen.

I didn't know what else to do with the pumpkin, since it would go bad if we held on to it for too long. I figured Yeto could use it for his soup, since the pumpkin flavour would add an interesting kick.

So I went over to Yeto as he was pondering what to add to the soup.

"What flavor..."

"Um, I found a pumpkin." I told him. "You can use it for your soup."

"Uh...PUMPKIN!" Yeto exclaimed, turning to me. "You have pumpkin, uh?"

Before I could give it to him, he pushed me down to the floor and the pumpkin fell.

He picked up the pumpkin. "Pumpkin, pumpkin, uh!" He placed it into the soup, turning it an orange-ish colour. "Thanks, uh! You taste if you want!"

Don't mind if I do.

I filled my bottle with it and tasted it. Mm, much better. The pumpkin did indeed overpower the reekfish. It was still missing something, though. I then refilled the bottle and gave it to Midna to drink before we went back to the living room.

"You find it, uh?" Yeta asked as I went over to her.

"No, I didn't find it. There was a pumpkin in that room." I said.

"...What? Pumpkin? But why there? No good, uh... Where I leave it?" Yeta paused for a moment to think. "Uh! Maybe in THAT room." I held out the map to her and she pointed to another room. "Check room I marked on map, uh."

We went through the door she'd pointed to, and came back outside. We had to take care of a few more of those white snow wolves, and also a big ice monster. There was a small canon we were able to use, with some canon balls and bombs, we were able to get rid of it and go through the door since it led to the room we had to go to.

The next room was another storage room, with some items on the other side of bars. There were two suits of armor standing along the corridor, and up ahead was the door leading into the room we were supposed to go through.

Just before I reached the door, I heard clanking of metal behind me. I turned around just as the suit of armor right behind me clattered to the ground, and I rolled out of the way.

Up ahead near the door we came through was a creature in a suit of armor, and it had a large, spiked ball on the end of a long chain. It came toward me, spinning the ball on the chain. I had to be careful from getting hit by it.

The creature's entire body was covered in armor, and it was hard to get around it thanks to the spinning spike ball.

That's when I remembered the Back Slice, and the clawshot. The ceiling had clawshot medallions I could use to get behind it. Sure enough, its tail was unprotected and likely the weak point.

So with a few slashes to its tail and avoiding the iron ball, the armored monster fell dead and exploded into nothing. It left the Ball n' Chain, though. I figured it would come in handy, so I picked it up, and had Midna store it away in her Fused Shadow since it was too heavy for me to carry.

We went through the door, and had to knock down some ice blocks with the Ball n' Chain, to reveal the treasure chest with the key.

Popping the lid, I then pulled out the...Ordon goat cheese? What? First an Ordon Pumpkin and now Ordon goat cheese? What next? Milk?

Midna popped out of the shadows again. "Aw, food AGAIN?! Yeah, I had a bad feeling about this. She didn't seem very sure of herself... Oh well... Let's head back and hope she has another brilliant idea."

At least we got a new weapon in our arsenal, and I think cheese would make a really good addition to the soup.

So we made our way back, and went into the kitchen where Yeto was.

"Uh... Needs...more punch, uh! Uh... WHAT?! GOOD SMELL! What you have, uh?!" He turned to me and then pushed me down onto the ground again, taking the cheese that fell.

"Ordon goat cheese..." I managed, getting back up. Ooooww....

"Mmm! Perfect ingredient, uh!" Yeto put the cheese in the soup. "Little more time on fire, it become gourmet soup, uh! Here! Taste, uh!"

Why not? It sounded more delicious than before. So I filled it with my bottle and sampled it. Delicious! The cheese made up for the missing flavour. Wow. I filled a couple of my bottles with it, and gave one to Midna to drink.

Afterward, we went back to the living room to where Yeta was.

"I think I remember, uh! We put key in nearby room, so no forgetting, uh. How I forget? Embarrassing, uh." She pointed to another room on the map. "It there. It must be, uh! You look for me!"

So we went through the other nearby door, and we were able to put our new weapon to good use as we took care of those big ice monsters like the one from before. The Ball n' Chain worked perfectly against ice.

After some puzzle solving and searching, we came to a chapel room, which was the room that had the key. Some of those ice soldier monsters ambushed us, but I took care of them with my new toy, and gained access to the next room.

Inside the chest was the key. It was blue, in the shape of a heart, and had a strange pointed end, but it was definitely the key.

Midna popped out of the shadows. "Phew... We've finally found the key. That sure took a while...but that mirror shard is as good as ours!"

I nodded in agreement, glad we were finally able to find the key. At least we didn't have to go through a completely dangerous life-threatening temple and fighting a boss this time. This one was pretty much a cinch!

We made our way back outside, and Yeta was waiting for us outside the door.

"Oh! You safe, uh! I drink husband's soup, feel much better, uh. So I come find you. You found key, uh! Good! Good! Bedroom right above us. I take you there, uh."

She led the way up a ramp, and I followed behind her, to be polite since this was her house after all.

We came to the bedroom door, which was locked with a blue heart-shaped padlock. Cute.

I took the key and unlocked the door, and it slid open.

"Thank you. You come inside..."

Yeta went inside the bedroom and I followed her in.

The bedroom was large, round, and very pretty. The mirror shard was hanging on the wall across the room.

"Please... This way, uh." Yeta said, and walked over to the mirror shard.

I followed her over to it, and she gazed at it sweetly.

"Here...mirror. You look at it, uh... Uh... So pretty... Pretty... Uh... So pretty... Pretty... Pretty...mirror... Lovely..." Her head started to shake, and she was groaning.

Suddenly, she whirled around, and Yeta's sweet face was replaced by a monstrous beast with red eyes and long sharp fangs.

"NOT TAKE MIRROR!"

Before I had time to react, the glass of the windows up above shattered, and cold winds and ice poured into the room, surrounding Yeta...or what used to be Yeta. She lifted into the air, surrounding herself in the cold wind. Once the whiteness cleared, there was an enormous block of ice, sculpted into an odd shape. The entire room then became encased with ice.

I quickly drew the Ball N' Chain and whirled it at the ice mass, knocking it back as it slid along the floor. The ice gave away, grew smaller, but retained a different shape. I hit it again with the iron spike ball, and it grew smaller again.

With a few more hits, it went crashing into the wall, and revealed Yeta again, or the monster possessing Yeta's body. She hung there for a moment, and then raised her head, letting out an irritating screech.

Pillars of ice surrounded her, and she was encased in an ice enclosure. They all came toward me, intending to crash down. It was hard to run on a floor of ice, but at least it gave me a clear reflection of the ceiling above, so I was able to see where they would land.

I wish I had those shoes meant for skating along the ice.

The pillars of ice all came crashing down, and I managed to roll out of the way of the incoming chunks. They all came down and I used my Ball N' Chain to get of a few of them. I figured if I got rid of them, I'd be able to hit the ice summoning monster that controlled Yeta's body.

With a few cleared out of the way, the pillars and enclosure landed near me, trying to crush me. But I rolled out of the way and then used the Ball N' Chain on the ice monster's enclosure, sending her flying in the wall across the room. The enclosure shattered, but still remained intact.

I had to repeat the process a few more times, along with her summoning a few more ice pillars every time I knocked her down, and then finally, one final smash and the ice was shattered.

The monster screamed out loudly as the ice shattered to the floor, with her laying there, stunned. The monster was gone, and Yeta was back to normal. It was kind of like back in the Goron Mines when we were fighting the monster that took control of Darbus, and when we killed it, Darbus wasn't really harmed, so Yeta wasn't either.

The twilight magic then formed into the piece of the mirror shard, like it did when we were getting the Fused Shadows. It floated down toward us, and hovered about my outstretched hands.

Midna popped out of the shadows. "Well, we have two mirror shards now..." She took it with her hand hair. "Two more left, Link. Still, I feel bad about the way we treated that girl. To think that the Mirror of Twilight has the power to change people like that... This world... ALL worlds...can be cruel... Let's hurry up and collect the rest of those pieces, Link! We have to, before more innocent creatures have to endure the suffering this poor girl did..."

She floated over to a spot on the carpeted floor and created a portal. "Well, let's go search for the two that remain."

Just as I was going to go make sure Yeta was all right, I suddenly heard a yell and in rushed Yeto, who knocked me to the side and ran to his wife's side.

"Uh... Uh... What... What wrong with me?" Yeta uttered, coming to.

Yeto helped sit her up with his hand. "Very strange... You just dreaming, uh."

"Yeto! Mirror you gave..." Yeta uttered, looking to where the mirror shard once was, seeing it gone.

Yeto shook his head. "Forget mirror, Yeta... No. Look into eyes of Yeto... Look in reflection in Yeto's eyes. There true beauty!" He picked her up with both hands. It was almost comical that he was so much bigger than her. "Who need mirror?"

"My love, uh!" Yeta cooed happily.

They hugged each other then. I could swear that hearts were flying around them then. I had to admit, it was surprising to see a display of love. The love they had seemed very strong. Yeto went all the way down to Zora's Domain to get a reekfish to make soup with, and even brought back the mirror shard after finding it, as a little gift for no reason at all. He went a long way for his wife, it was hard to find a man who would do that.

Midna came over to me and leaned against my shoulder.

"We should go, Link. Leave them alone for a bit."

I looked at Midna and smiled at her. She looked a bit puzzled but smiled back. I felt my heart flutter a bit more then as we looked into each other's eyes. I caught my breath and nodded in agreement. We then exited through the portal.

Two mirror shards down, one to go.


	23. Sacred Grove

My brother once showed me the Temple of Time, not the actual dungeon, and I thought it was pretty cool how they had the same music and mostly the same setting as the Temple of Time back in _Ocarina of Time_. I only wish it weren't changed so much! But whatever.

Ever go in the back room where the pedestal is, and you think, "Oh, this is where Navi left...", some say she actually went to the dungeon beyond the windows and became a part of it forever.

Anyway, on with the show!

--

After we left Snowpeak Ruins, we warped to Castle Town to go on to Telma's Bar and find anymore leads on where we could go next.

We had two more mirror shards left to find by now. One in a sacred grove, which I figured was the Sacred Grove we went to before in getting the Master Sword, and the other in the heavens. I was pretty unsure of that one, not just how we were going to get there, but why would it be there?

Maybe I'll ask that Shad fella...

Anyway, on our way to the bar, we were hailed by the Postman who gave us a letter from Yeta. She was apologizing for not having been much help and invited us back up anytime, and to go sledding too. Sweet.

We came into the bar, while I was still squeezing the snow off my tunic.

"Well Link!" Telma greeted. "I take it you had a nice time in the mountains?"

"Yeah, sure." I said, taking off my hat and shaking the snow powder off it. My hair was a bit more of a tousled mess than before, so I smoothed it out and put the hat back on. I never understood why I wore the hat with the rest of the garb, and yet my head felt naked without it.

"Rusl went off to north of Faron Woods just a little while ago." Telma mentioned. "You should go see what he's up to, honey!"

Faron Woods again, huh? I guess that meant the Sacred Grove was out next stop to find the Mirror Shard. So I thanked Telma and then left the bar, where Midna warped us to North Faron Woods, near the Forest Temple.

Rusl was standing on a wooden stump up ahead, so I transformed back into a human and went over to him.

"It has been a while since we took a walk in the forest, huh? Yes, and how our world has changed... I knew you would come." Rusl took his helmet off. "I have heard of your brave acts from Telma... I have known her circle of friends since my youth, and of late we have begun to work toward a common goal. ...So, let me tell you a story. Did you know about the far side of this deep gorge? Some say there is an ancient temple deep in the woods that guards the sacred power. The ancestors of the Hylians created the temple... Signs of their civilization-ancient, but very sophisticated-are everywhere. If someone could obtain the power of those ancient people... Well, I am sure it would go a long way toward saving Hyrule."

An ancient temple? An ancient power? Oh boy, that sounded like another dungeon. And a new weapon! I wonder what it would be this time?

"Link..." Rusl turned to me. "Would you take on this task? Would you cross the gorge and find the ancient power sleeping in the temple?"

"Of course." I said with a nod.

"I knew you would! To cross the gorge, just use my partner here." Rusl turned and whistled the bird call tune.

There was the ruffle of feathers, and then something golden came flying toward us, landing on Rusl's outstretched arm.

I definitely summed up my and Midna's thoughts perfectly.

"...A chicken?" I said, staring at it.

"...Do you doubt my partner's skills? He flies like a dream! Believe me! Well, you definitely will make it across the gorge. Wait and see, my doubting friend."

Well, if that golden cuckoo could carry Rusl, surely it would be able to get me across the gorge. So I picked him up and jumped over the ledge toward the roots, like I had done as a wolf.

The cuckoo flew just fine, luckily. And we got into the Sacred Grove again.

I hoped that the Skull Kid wouldn't take us on another of his grand tours.

Sure enough, once we came inside, the Skull Kid dropped down from the tree, giggled, and blew through his trumpet. Some of his puppets summonings from before came around to attack us, and the Skull Kid ran off.

Great.

So once again we had to follow the Skull Kid while fighting off his stupid puppets. Luckily though, it was a bit easier getting through this time around, since the way we were supposed to go would be lit up on the other side.

After one archery showdown, the Skull Kid once again disappeared, with his voice floating through the wood.

"Hee hee hee... That was fun! I'll tell you what: I'll let you into a secret place!"

Another tunnel opened up for us and so we went through it. Thank goodness this was over.

We came back to the Sacred Grove, near where we got the Master Sword. This time, we were on the hill above, where I pushed a large stone block down onto the ground below in order to climb down to and climb back up if needed.

Up ahead was the entrance to where the Master Sword once lay, and right below was a single door with a statue standing in front of it. I thought it was kind of silly since the door obviously didn't lead anywhere.

Or so I thought.

As I was observing, Midna popped out of the shadows.

"The sacred, ancient forest... So this was what they were talking about..." She remarked, and then disappeared back into the shadows.

I descended down and went to the pedestal where the Master Sword was to rest, hoping to find a clue.

Staring at it, I'm not sure what was making me do it, but something told me I would find a clue if I struck the pedestal. It was worth a try, and I had nothing to lose. So I drew the Master Sword, and plunged it back into the pedestal.

There was a strange strumming sound nearby, but nothing happened. But something had to have happened, so I withdrew the sword and sheathed it, deciding to go and investigate.

As we went back out, we were ambushed by shadow beasts, so I took care of them and created another portal. Now we could warp back here anytime we needed and not have to go through the Skull Kid again. Thank goodness.

We came back to where the strange door was, and the statue standing before it was gone! Weird. I guess putting the Master Sword back in got rid of it.

I approached it, and the doors opened. For some reason, the inside was still what I expected, just the other side of the wall, but it was gray, and lightly rippling. Taking a chance, I gingerly walked through.

Instead of coming out on the other side, as I thought, we actually came into a temple.

Strange!

I looked around as we walked in, taking in the place. It was unbelievable, we actually came into a temple! As I took in the place, I realized that it was the Temple of Time, the ancient Temple that was built to protect the Sacred Realm, and where the Master Sword was kept. Where the Hero of Time pulled it.

It was slightly different than from how the legends spoke of it, but it was definitely the place. The Sacred Grove, all the ruins, was the run-down remains of the Temple of Time, and somehow we were in the past, back to when the Temple of Time stood.

I descended down the stairs ahead, and then went into the room in the back, which was the Pedestal of Time, where the Master Sword lay.

This room had coloured stained glass, and lower down instead of higher up. The pedestal lay there, just like it was outside.

I went up to it, and decided to try it again, to see what would happen. I drew the Master Sword and struck it into the Pedestal of Time.

A bright light emitted from the sword that glowed brightly, and then a blue staircase that seemed to be made of light suddenly appeared, ascending its way up to the stained glass window in front of us.

I drew the sword back and sheathed it, and that was when I heard squawking and the ruffle of feathers. Ooccoo and her son, Ooccoo Jr. came running and ran up the stairs. As they approached the glass, it disappeared! There was a doorway on the other side, and they ran up to it.

Unbelievable.

So we followed her up, and then came into the next dungeon, the Temple of Time.


	24. Temple of Time

Wow, I still can't believe I made it this far. As determined as I was to do this, I thought somehow it would just slip through my fingers like sand! But no, I'm already at this point! No turning back!

So yeah, we are now at the Temple of Time. I had trouble with this temple when I first played it, since I accidentally bypassed getting the Boss Key completely! Ugh.

I think the Dominion Rod is pretty cool. X3 It's fun to be controlling statues like that! I never expected an item like that, seriously. It was sure something new!

And oh my God, they've done it again. Making a giant spider. XD I liked the music for that boss battle, it was cool. XD

Anyway, shall we move along?

--~~--

So now, we were in the Temple of Time, the dungeon beyond. I wasn't sure what to expect of the place. It was very ancient, sophisticated, and...well, big. None of the other dungeons were like this, since they were mostly run-down but still strong. Except maybe the Lakebed Temple, since it was under water.

The central room we came into was big, with a large bell in the middle of the room. Up ahead was a door, and there were stairs leading up to another door. The symbols of the Sage of Light were among the temple, also.

We first went to the door up ahead, but there was something strange about it. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but Midna was thinking the same thing as she popped out of the shadows.

"Link... Don't you think there's something odd about that statue? In the grove and in the temple entry, there were always matching ones on each side, but there's only one here... Why don't you use your senses to take a look around?"

I looked to see that she was right. There was only one statue. There was a space on the opposite side for a statue, but there was nothing there. Odd, though. A statue couldn't just get up and walk away. Something moved it somehow.

We couldn't get through that door, so we made our way up the stairs, using having to place something heavy on the switch. When we got up, Oocoo and her son, Oocoo Jr., were blocking our path.

"Erm! Not so fast! At last… This is it! This is where I've been trying to get to! The ancient technology of our people sleeps in this place. We've searched all over… and now we're so close, I can SMELL it! Once we find that thing, we can go home at last! Oh, gracious, yes! Erm, young man! We're so close… so PLEASE help us find what we're looking for!"

Well now it just seemed odd to go through a temple without Ooccoo. So we took her with us and continued on our way.

This temple sure was different from the others, not just in regards of décor, but also in puzzles. We finally came to this large room with a cathedral ceiling, an arched window, with something standing against it. The room was pretty dark also.

Against the window...was the statue! The one from the entrance that was missing! Great. Now how would we get it down?

Up ahead of me, in the centre, was a suit of armor. I approached it, curiously. Suddenly, it moved! It turned around to face me. Apparently it was a Darknut, a heavily armored enemy with a large sword and shield.

It was hard to attack him, since he had a huge, metal shield that deflected my attacks. But when he would raise his sword and attack me, I could dodge and then swipe at him, which knocked off his armor little by little.

When I shed his armor, he became furious and tossed his sword at me. I jumped to the side to avoid getting hit. He then drew another sword he had, which was more a rapier. He could still defend himself with it, but I had more leeway to attack him now.

Finally, he struggled, trying to stay standing, but he then fell to the ground, exploding into nothing. Sheathing my own sword, I went up ahead to where a treasure chest was sitting, as the golden bars moved aside to allow me to pass to it.

Opening it up, I pulled out the strangest item I'd seen yet. It was the Dominion Rod, an ancient, legendary item that allowed the user to control certain statues. Apparently they would move like their master.

Interesting...

"Hey, Link." Midna said, popping from the shadows. "If that Dominion Rod can really do what it says it can, then maybe we can bring that statue back to the entrance..."

"It's worth a try." I said.

So I backed away and faced the statue up on the ledge. An orb formed on the rod, which I waved, sending it flying to the statue. The green markings along it lit up, and it moved its head.

I started to walk, and it walked with me. Or more, it bounced up and down, since it didn't have legs to walk on. I guided it down from the ledge, and led the way to the door leading out. As the statue stepped onto the platform below the giant bell, the bell suddenly closed in onto it! Then, it was gone. The orb returned to the rod. Weird. Where did it go?

With no other choice, I left the room.

Ahead of me, the bell suddenly lifted up...and revealed the statue! So apparently the bells were used as teleportation, and here I thought they were just decoration. Amazing, since the statue wouldn't be able to fit through a door.

So we continued guiding the statue along to the entrance, using the bells to get them from one room to the next. Another interesting feature happened when I waved the dominion rod to swat away a keese that was flying at me. The statue raised its enormous hammer and swung it too! It was helpful in smashing up gates, monsters, and even other obstacles.

Amazing.

Along the way, we also managed to find the Boss Key, which really wasn't easy since it didn't build up to it.

We finally made it to the central room, and brought the statue back where it belonged. The door lit up, and then parted open for us to get through.

Finally, we came to the Boss Chamber.

The room was dark, with a few lights along the ceiling. Four large statues that I could the Dominion Rod on were located around in corners of the room. I walked around, looking for the boss. Where was it? What was it?

Suddenly, the light above me was suddenly shrouded in darkness. Puzzled, I drew my sword, then looked up, and my jaw dropped in repulsion.

On the ceiling right above me, was a giant spider.

But that wasn't the only thing that was disgusting. Like Morpheel, it had a giant eye lodged into its back. It opened up and stared at me, widening with surprise. The spider then crawled along the ceiling, with some dust falling in its wake.

Ew, gross.

The giant spider crawled along the ceiling, and I figured its eye was its weakpoint. And the only way I could attack it was a long-range tactic, with my bow and arrows.

I followed the spider along, readying an arrow. When it stopped in a corner, opening its eye, I shot the arrow at it. It roared in pain and fell to the ground on its back.

Now what?

It had fallen near one of the statues, and I could see that it had a large fist. Hmmm...

I took out the Dominion Rod and fired it at the statue, bringing it to life. Swinging it, the statue brought is giant fist right down on the spiders stomach, smashing into it. The spider roared in pain, and was stunned for a few moments. Then it rolled itself upright and crawled back up the wall to the ceiling.

But before I could attack it, it suddenly released some eggs from its back-end. It produced those little spiders I'd seen throughout the temple, probably as a way to distract me. So I went in and killed them all, pretty certain they would pester me if I ignored them.

Suddenly, I saw a line of fire shoot toward me! It was coming from the spider's eye, like some kind of laser. I managed to roll around and dodge it, since I figured it would be the end of me if I came in contact with it.

At a safe distance, I shot it in the eye again, and used the statue to smash its fist into its stomach.

I had to repeat the process once more, after fighting off more little spiders and avoiding fire lasers, the statue finally squashed the giant arachnid.

The spider struggled, curled its legs inward, and then exploded into nothing. I sheathed my sword, but then my jaw dropped at what I saw.

The spider's eye, among some eggs of the little spiders, were alive. The eye the became the body of a smaller version of the large spider, and the eggs all hatched. What the?!

I chased after the eyeball spider, trying to hit it with my sword, but it was too fast for me. I drew my arrows and shot it a few times, right in the eye.

Finally, it faltered, and they all exploded into nothing. Now the spider was REALLY dead.

The remains then formed into the Mirror of Twilight shard, floating down toward us.

Midna emerged from the shadows, taking the Mirror Shard with her hand hair. "Three of the mirror shards are ours! Just one left! Link... You saw how nasty that monster was, right? The evil within the shards is more powerful than you can imagine... You know, we could be assembling something truly terrible here... It could be something that we'll ultimately have to destroy..."

My gut wrenched as she said that, not just that the mirror shards housed an evil power, but destroying the Mirror of Twilight? Did that mean...

I shook my head at the thought. No time to think about that now. We had to get out of here and find the last shard.

Midna floated over along the floor and created a portal. "We have to hurry! Let's find the last shard, Link! We have to reach the sky! That's where the last shard is supposed to be!"

I was still confused about how we were going to get into the sky, much less how we were going to stay up there. But I guess we'll figure it out as we go along. So I went over to the portal, and we warped out of the temple.


	25. Ilia's Memory

OK, so now we've come to restoring Ilia's memory. I still think the whole thing of her losing her memory was useless, just creating more work for us to do. Oh well, I don't discourage the ideas of the writing staff, of course.

But still, a horse whistle? Hello?! We don't even need it! Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of having something close to call Epona, but by now, we're nearly at the end of the game and can warp anywhere we need to. If we'd had it at the beginning, maybe it would've helped? Most especially if you're a beginner?

Nope. Nope. Gotta get it now when we really don't need it.

Like I said before, I'm not a fan of LinkxIlia either, so I know all the fans of it the pair are yelling at the top of their lungs about how awesome this part was. I do like Ilia, although she's not on my top favourites. I know it sounds typical for a LinkxMidna fan to dislike LinkxIlia, but come on. Let's not stereotype, people. We all have our preferences.

Oh! I love the Hidden Village. It's like something out of a western! Totally awesome. I believe it's the original Kakariko Village, yeah?

I love Shad in this part, really. XD It was great to see him all happy and excited! I sure feel bad for him when he has to leave when we find the Sky Cannon. Aww...poor Shad. But he took it pretty well, so that was cool of him.

And a thank-you shout out to Ferngirl! If it hadn't been for her, I never would've gotten some of the dialogues I needed for this story. The moron who made the visual guide skipped A LOT of the game. DX But thanks to her fic, I was able to nab some important lines! Thanks, Ferngirl!

All right, let's move on.

--

When we warped out, we ended up back in the Temple of Time, the entrance to the dungeon. So we exited out the doors we'd come in through, and ended up back outside in the ruins of the place. Back from the past.

Right before us as we came outside was Ooccoo, with her son.

"Well done, adventurer!" She said. "Oocco sees what she was looking for. Goodness yes! It's the Dominion Rod you found in the temple! But that thing has been around for quite some time, I can see from here that its magic has been exhausted. Ooh, what am I to... I thought at last I could return to the sky... And I have completely forgotten the spell that would once again bestow it with magic... It can't be helped, I suppose I'll just have to look for the statues that respond to the rod... It's decided! That's what we'll do! That's what we'll do, indeed! Well, Ooccoo is on her way! See you again!"

Ooccoo and Ooccoo Jr. then hurried off, leaping over the wall. Midna popped out of the shadows and started to go after them.

"Hey! Wait! What did you do the Dominion Rod? ...She's gone." She sighed and came floating back over to me. "I suppose a useless rod is really just more baggage, but...what are you going to do? Hmm... Did she just say something about returning to the sky?"

"She did." I said with a nod. "If what she said was true, then the Dominion Rod is a key to help to get to the sky, and those statues she said that responded to the rod. She must mean those owl statues we saw around Hyrule."

Midna nodded in agreement. "The last piece of the mirror is also said to be in the heavens... If we can restore power to the Dominion Rod, maybe it'll come in handy!"

Hmm...I think I recalled Shad saying he had gone off to Kakariko Village before we left the bar earlier...

Well, I could check on how the kids were doing, and see how Ilia was doing also. So we warped to Kakariko Village.

Malo was still running his little store, and apparently Gor Ebizo and Gor Liggs were helping him out in taking donations should that he could buy out that Overpriced Shop in Castle Town. I didn't have much to lose, so I chipped in some ruppees to help them out.

Talo was on the lookout point high above the village, to keep an eye out for monsters. A Goron was helping him out, keeping watch on a level below him.

Beth was standing near the entrance to the cemetery, and mumbling about how Ralis turned out to be the Prince of the Zoras and missed her chance to go with him. I guess that meant Ralis had returned to Zora's Domain, as he said he would.

So then we went into the Sanctuary. Ilia was there with Renado, and Gor Coron, the Goron Elder I'd sumo wrestled with to get in to the Goron Mines was there also along with Darbus, their patriarch.

Renado saw me come in, and must've been waiting for me. "Ah! I've been waiting for you, Link. Fortune has smiled upon us! If things go well, we should be able to help Ilia recover her memory! Do you know Telma's friend, Shad? Well, it seems he is researching the heavens, and he has come here to see the statue in the basement of the sanctuary."

A way to get Ilia's memory back? That was a relief to know. At least she'd finally be taken care of and I wouldn't have to worry so much of her anymore either.

That owl statue Renado mentioned that Shad was studying in the basement, I remembered seeing it back when we were in the twilight, collecting the tears from the bugs. An owl statue was nudged into a crook in the wall. I was right, we did end up having to deal with it later. It was definitely a statue that responded to the Dominion Rod, but it looked different from the others we'd seen that looked like it.

"And, as I have learned, when Ilia was saved, she overheard someone talking about the rod of the heavens, or something like that..." Renado went on. "The Goron elder believes that to help regain her lost memories, we must piece together the fragments of her past... Which means... If we work our way backward from the very place where she lost her memory, we may find something that will restore it. Now we must retrace Ilia's path... I am certain it was Telma who cared for her before she arrived in this village, was it not? It would be best to speak with her first. Please take this to Telma!"

Renado handed me a letter, inside an envelope. I guessed it explained to Telma what we could do about restoring Ilia's memory. She would definitely know a thing or two.

"...It shames me to say it, but to be honest, I cannot abide Telma's company..." Renado murmured under his breath, his eyes shifting a little. "We have a fighting chance, Link!"

I thanked him for the letter, and turned over to the two Gorons who had been eavesdropping.

"Whether we get that girl's memory back, young warrior," Gor Coron said, "will be up to you." He dropped his voice to a whisper so that Darbus couldn't hear him. "Even our chief, Darbus, has lost the memory of his dark time… We have not told him that you were the one who saved him. He is a proud Goron, and he can be… touchy. If he knew he had been saved by a human… On the other hand, he does have a strong sense of moral duty, so if anything happens, you can count on him to help."

No one told him I saved him? I didn't know what to think about that.

"If there is anything I can do to help, just say so!" Darbus boomed. "It is in times like these that we must come to one another's aid! Not that you could ever do much to help ME my tiny friend! Gah ha ha!"

I just nodded to him and decided to go into the basement. I hid a smile and I knew Midna was thinking it too.

We went into the basement, like we'd done before. Shad was standing near the owl statue and studying some notes from the book he was always holding.

Shad must've heard me come in as he looked up.

"Oh my… Color me surprised… If it isn't Link!"

Color me surprised? Who talks like that?

"What a coincidence, meeting you in a place like this. How very odd. Say, old boy, do you remember what I told you before about the legend of the sky beings known as the Oocca? Yes, well, there's something about it that's been bothering me, so I came here to snoop about. To think that you would appear here with such perfect timing!"

Well, it wasn't exactly perfect timing, but I decided to humour him.

"Here, look at the belly… There's something written there, you see? This, too, was in my father's notes… It is called Sky Writing, I believe. 'Awaken us with the word that breaks the seal.' …Yes, indeed, that is what it says. Wait a moment… Isn't that Ilia a friend of yours? It's simply tragic how she lost her memory. And that rod of the heavens she mentioned… I'm sure it has something to do with the word that breaks the seal. Hmm… Isn't there any way to restore her memory? I'm certain it would help us figure this all out."

If Ilia could help us out in breaking all this code, we had no choice but to restore her memory by now. Despite that, I was hoping to do something about it sooner or later, I'd hate for her to have to practically start her life over because of lost memories.

I told Shad I'd get back to him later on and then we emerged from the basement, out in the graveyard. I met with the White Wolf and learned the Mortal Draw.

We then warped off to Castle Town, on our way in, we were hailed by the Postman, who gave us a couple letters, and then went on his way, while I did the same. We went into town and to Telma's Bar, coming back inside.

"Oh my... If isn't Link!" Telma greeted. "You made it! How've you been, honey?! Mercy, but you have good timing. I was just talking about you! Shad mentioned he was doing research in Kakariko Village. You should go talk to him, honey! Oh... Mercy, how could I forget?! If you're going to Kakariko Village, be sure to give my regards to that adorable shaman, OK, honey?"

"Actually, Renado asked me to give you this." I pulled out the letter and handed it to her.

"Oooh!" Telma giggled, reading over the letter. "Well, if it isn't from Renado, the shaman! All this writing, and he doesn't bother to mention a thing about little ol' me? Honey, that is what I call RUDE! Well, there's no accounting for the foolishness of a man. And at least I understand Ilia's situation now."

"Me too." I admitted. "You cared for her before we brought her and Ralis to Kakariko Village, and Renado figured you could help us out, since we have to build up her past."

"Of course I can lend a hand for that adorable little girl! Hmmm, what else do I know... The first one to bring Ilia to this shop was that doctor... Maybe he knows something, but he's a crusty old bat, that's for sure... Ah! I've got it! Honey, you go and take this to him. This magic little paper will get that codger talking!"

Telma handed me a slip of paper, and I saw that it was an invoice, running the doctor's tab. I glanced at it and saw the astronomical sum. Oh dear.

"It sure would be nice if she started remembering things soon, eh, Link?" Telma remarked.

I nodded in agreement. thanked Telma and we left bar. On the way out, I noticed Louise sitting near the counter. I smiled at her, and she meowed in reply. Then I left the bar, going to the medical clinic nearby.

Entering, the doctor looked at me.

"Eh? What's that?" He said, fixing his glasses. "Just as I wondered who it might be, I see it's the admirable young lad who was willing to help the Zora boy for nary a single rupee... Just what is it you want, lad? A physical? You've got some money, don't you?" He paused. "...By the way, that girl Ilia didn't mention anything about me, did she?"

Typical. I decided to ignore that last comment and get right to the point.

"Actually, Telma asked me to give you this." I held out the invoice to him.

The doctor studied it and did a double take. "AIIIGH! L-Look! I can't pay this off right now! I can see Telma's hired you as some sort of heavy to strong-arm me, but she'll have to wait! Look, lad, if I'd been able to sell the wooden statue that young lady had, I would've been able to get the money... But see, I accidentally spilled medicine all over the little carving, which made it stink awfully. I put it outside to dry...but then... Well, it was stolen. Who goes around stealing stuff like that? What a world! You always have to be on guard, eh? ... ...Uh, look, Mr. Heavy, at any rate, neither the money nor the carving is here, so I can't repay you. Now, to work, to work..." He disappeared into his office area cubicle.

A wooden statue that smelt like medicine, huh? If Ilia had it...then maybe it could be helpful in restoring her memory!

So the medicine spilt on it made it smell, then maybe I could track it down with my wolf senses.

I noticed a crate nearby, and coming from it was the strong, spicy smell of medicine. So I pushed it aside and saw a puddle of green medicine. Eww, it stank. But no worse than the reekfish.

The doctor wouldn't be able to see us, so I transformed into a wolf and Midna plopped onto my back. I sniffed the medicine, making sure to remember the smell. Then we climbed up to the window and jumped out from there. Of course, the townsfolk were terrified to see us, but I ignored them, following the scent of the medicine.

The scent led to...Telma's bar? We went down there, and Louise was outside. Did SHE take it? Went over to her.

"You're looking for the wooden statue that Ilia had, aren't you, dear? Think it's a coincidence that I happen to know it got stolen from the doctor's place? No... Yes, I'll admit it...I took it. But then I was attacked by some sort of skeletal dog beasts who took it from me. I don't know why those beasts were after her statue... I thought it likely that she was in a dangerous spot, though. Those fiends lurk just outside the southern gate... Unfortunately, they only come out at night. ...And another thing... They always move around as a pack. You won't get that statue back unless you give them all a thrashing... That statue sounds like a key to getting Ilia's memory back... You must get it back!"

So is that why she took it? Oh well, it didn't matter. I nodded to her in thanks and then we left the two, going out the south gate. Which was conveniently the gate nearest us.

It was the hour of twilight, so nighttime was coming soon. We had nothing else to do, so I went out onto the grass and waited. Waited. And waited. Before I eventually got bored and just lay there on my stomach. Midna followed my example and sat up against my side.

Once it was nighttime, we got into action as the strange skeletal dogs rose up from the ground, trying to attack us. So with the help of Midna's energy field, we enclosed them within it and attacked them all.

The wooden statue bounced along the ground, and we picked it up. This was definitely it!

With the wooden statue in our arsenal, we then warped to Kakariko Village.

--

We came to Kakariko Village, and I transformed into a human before going inside the sanctuary. Ilia and the others were still there, so luckily I didn't have to go look for them.

Taking out the statue, I handed it to Ilia. She took it, eyeing it with great surprise.

"What...is this?!" She grabbed her head, trying to remember something. "I... I remember something... I was confined somewhere... Yes, and I was saved by whoever was confined with me... And when that person set me free, they gave me this statue..." She gasped. "Yes, yes, I remember that much! But that means...that person is still in trouble! Oh, what is WRONG with me?! I can't remember where that place was!"

"I REMEMBER!" Gor Coron suddenly bellowed. "I thought I had seen that before somewhere... That belonged to the tribe that protected the Hylian royal family long ago. They worked in secret, so they lived in a lonely, forgotten place. But I heard that tribe dwindled in the prolonged wars... If you want to find that hidden village, look for a path leading to the Lanayru Province on the far side of the Bridge of Eldin."

Hearing this, Ilia slumped in sadness. "But...a rock landslide blocked the way to the village long ago, so you can't get there anymore."

"What? Oh, I do not mean to worry you, little human. Problems like that are not problems to Gorons."

Gor Coron turned to Darbus and gave him a nod. The Goron patriarch grunted back and went outside.

The Goron Elder then turned to me. "Our patriarch, Darbus, will be waiting for you up ahead. I would try to find the path leading beyond the Bridge of Eldin that leads to the Lanayru Province."

That sounded easy enough. I remembered where that was, back when we had to cross the Bridge of Eldin to get into the twilight that was surrounding the Lanayru Province.

I thanked them for their help and then went outside, where we warped to the Bridge of Eldin. Since we'd managed to restore it back when we went into Gerudo Desert, it was passable. Good thing we found that piece of the bridge, too.

It took a while, but some ways after we'd crossed the bridge, not too far from the Great Bridge of Hylia, there was a tunnel on the cliffside, so we climbed up and went through it.

Up ahead, Darbus was throwing his mighty fists at a bunch of rocks that were blocking the path ahead. I stood by and watched him. He then let out a roar and punched the rocks one last time, reducing them to rubble and clearing the way.

Darbus turned to me in triumph. "There is a hidden village up ahead, little human. The elders call it a forgotten place. This scent has been burning my nostrils...it is the scent of evil. There is one powerful creature I have seen about...but under that beast are many minions who attack and plunder like a pack of hyenas."

I grimaced at this, realizing that we were probably now going to deal with more bulblins. Great.

"There are 30... No... At most, 20 of them ahead..." Darbus continued. "They are probably just a small band of survivors... Ragged remnants who have settled, leaderless, into this village. If that is all there are, little human, then you alone are more than enough for them. But you will have to defeat them ALL to save that girl's benefactor. Before you go, I will tell you a secret to besting them: destroy them all before they spot you! Got it, little human?"

I nodded, and then he curled into a boulder ball and rolled out of the tunnel. So then we continued down the tunnel and came into the hidden village.

The village was really small, with a few buildings around. Sure enough, along the balconies and pathways were bulblins, and a lot of them. This had to be the old Kakariko Village, if I'm correct. If Ilia's benefactor was all right, they were probably holding her hostage in one of the buildings.

Taking out the Hawkeye, I used it along with my bow and arrow to shoot off bulblins, but they must've spotted me because one of them let out a screeching call.

A few of them were inside the rundown, battered buildings also. There was a Howling Stone behind one building, probably an old bar, and so I quickly howled it back. The White Wolf then told me where to find him next, and then we continued on.

Finally, I shot down the last monster and stepped back outside. There was a house at the far end of the village that I hadn't been to yet. The entire village was quiet now, having fallen silent after I took care of the bulblins.

Right then, the door of the house opened, catching our attention. An old woman stepped outside, looking around.

"The howls of the beasts... They've faded into silence..."

I went over to her, and she looked surprised to see me as she studied me.

"Wait, are you... The savior! It's you, the savior!" The elder woman said happily. "Please, please forgive me...for not opening up the door. My name is Impaz. I am the last resident of this poor village. My name comes from the great one who built this village so long ago... This village was once the secret home of a proud tribe who served the royal family... But it fell into decline, and became infested with dangerous beasts. It's become an awful place..."

Impaz glanced around the village, sighing sadly. Then she turned back to me. "Excuse me for asking, but is your name...Link?"

I nodded. "Yes, my name's Link."

"Ah! I knew it... So then, you saved that nice girl? ...How lovely." Impaz said softly. "When she was here, she would often cheer me up by saying you would come to help. That sweet girl.. She worried about this old woman even as I helped her to escape from here..."

Her words sunk into my mind, and it all made sense now. Ilia had been trying to escape here and make it to Castle Town, and maybe one of the bulblins hit her head so that she would lose her memory.

"By royal order, I can't leave this place until a certain person arrives." Impaz went on. "...No matter what terrible fate is visited upon it... Oh, but listen to me blather on! I have a favor to ask: would you help me return this to her? I think she always kept it close to her heart, but even so, she didn't hesitate to part with it in order to protect me..."

Impaz reached into her pocket and then handed something to me. It was a whistle in the shape of a horseshoe attached to some string. I remembered before I was to leave on my journey that Ilia had been working on something, and this might've been it.

If that was true, then maybe it could help her regain her memory!

"I believe in my heart that it's kept me safe all this time... So please... I ask that you return it to that girl."

I thanked her for the item, and was about to get going, when I remembered Ilia mentioning something about someone having talked about the rod of the heavens. Since Ooccoo said she needed the Dominion Rod to get back home, which was apparently in the sky, could she mean the Dominion Rod?

I took out the rusted Dominion Rod and showed it to Impaz. When she saw it, she gasped.

"Hey! That rod... Is that the Dominion Rod? Ahh... Could it really be? Are you the messenger to the heavens?! Among the legends of my clan, there is a story from the time when the Oocca still maintained contact with the royal family. Yes, it was said that a mysterious rod was handed down from the people of the sky, and it was called the Dominion Rod... The rod was only to be carried by the messenger to the heavens when the royal family needed to communicate with the Oocca. From generation to generation, my ancestors have guarded the book that, by royal decree, was to be given to the messenger to the heavens. This is that book. Please, take it."

She handed me an old, leather bound book. I looked it over and flipped through a couple of pages. It was written in strange markings that I was unable to decipher.

"This book is written in the ancient language of Sky Writing." Impaz explained. "I am so glad I stayed in this village... If I had not met that young girl, what would have become of me? Meeting that girl must have been ordained by the gods, so that I could be here today to pass on this knowledge..."

Taking the book into our arsenal, I thanked Impaz and then we left the village to be on our way.

We warped back to Kakariko Village, and went into the sanctuary. Renado, Ilia and Gor Coron were still there, talking while Ilia stood there silently. I went over to where Ilia was, and held the whistle out to her. Maybe now her memory would be restored, I hope.

Ilia looked at it, and gasped in recognition.

"I… I knew you once…" Ilia whispered. She shut her eyes. "Yes… This feels so familiar… The scent of hay. Long ago… When we were young, you and I…You were always there… You were always beside me…" She looked up and smiled at me. "Link."

I couldn't believe it, her memories had been restored! It was as if it were some kind of a miracle.

Everything around us seemed to disappear, and I could almost see that we were in Ordon Spring, with Epona there too. I couldn't even begin to describe how relieved and happy I was to know that Ilia was all right, and wouldn't have to worry about her.

I heard the sound of muffled giggles behind me, and I knew Malo, Talo, Beth and Colin were peeking in behind us. Renado and Gor Coron quietly left the sanctuary, to give us a moment alone.

"This gift was meant for you," Ilia said. "It was something I wanted to give you before you left on your journey. Please, Link, take it."

She handed the Horse Call to me, and I took it and put it in my pocket. I didn't really need it now, since Midna could warp us anywhere we needed to, but I don't see why we couldn't give Epona some exercise. Besides, it was also a gift from a friend, may as well put it to use.

"You don't need to worry about me any longer. Whenever you return… I'll be waiting for you."

My heart wrenched a bit, as I realized what this probably meant. Since my quest started, I'd changed a lot, and now my feelings toward Ilia were more of a close friendship, brother and sister even. I wasn't sure if I still felt the same way I did before.

"Link… Do you remember what I was saying about the rod of the heavens?" Ilia went on. "Well, actually… It was about the messenger to the heavens who held the rod. The nice woman who saved me told me about it. Apparently, in this woman's village, they've guarded something for the heavenly messenger for generations, so they await him. But they can't give this item away until the messenger arrives with the rod. That's why the lady couldn't leave her village, you see. Say, Link… Do you have any idea who this messenger to the heavens might be? Or even what the rod is?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yes, I heard about the whole thing through her. Don't worry about her, she's gonna be okay."

Looking relieved, Ilia nodded. "That's good Link. Thank you so much for your help."

I nodded to her and smiled. Then I thanked her and went down into the basement of the Sanctuary. Hopefully Shad would be able to shed some light on this Sky Writing book.

Shad was still in the basement when I got down there, so I went over to him and pulled out the book Impaz had given me.

"Shad, can you take a look at this?"

"What's this?" Shad took the book from me and turned to a page. "Ah! It's Sky Writing! Where in blazes did you get this? You don't suppose this could be the word that breaks the seal..."

He turned to the owl statue, and looked at a certain word in the book. "R-Right! Let's try it out!"

Holding out the book along with his own at arms length, Shad repeated a word in a strange language, which I guessed was the language of the Sky Writing.

I stared at the owl statue, expecting something to happen. But nothing did. Odd, was there something wrong with the word? Shad must have been thinking the same thing since he sighed in disappointment.

"...No reaction. So this is not the statue... Urgh..." He then turned to me and smiled ruefully. "...Link, thanks ever so. You have brought me one step closer to solving this puzzle. I shall give the book back to you." He handed the book back to me. "Now! I shall try this word out on other statues! I have made the rounds of these statues so many times that I have memorized their locations. I will place marks on your map so you can find them, in case you wish to track me down. Remember, every one of these marks is near an owl statue!" He took my map and marked a few places, then handed it back. "Now, if you'll excuse me!"

Shad bid me farewell and left the basement.

Owl statues? There were more of them out there? Come to think of it, I had seen a couple of them around in some places. I looked over the map, and then I heard a strange humming noise. I looked at the Dominion Rod hanging off my belt and held it up in amazement. It was no longer a rusty stick, it was just as it was back in the dungeon of the Temple of Time. But how?

Midna must've been thinking the same thing when she popped out of the shadows, staring at the rod. "The writing in the book was a spell that imbued the staff with magic! Now you can do to the other statues what you did before... So... He did say he would mark your map wherever there was a statue, didn't he? Then we should go check out those spots, right, Link?"

I nodded and took out my map to look it over and see where some marks were. "There's one in the desert we could start with." I said. "Let's go there."

"All right, off we go!" Midna said, and transformed me into a wolf so we could warp.

We warped off to Gerudo Desert, and while still a wolf, we made our way to where the mark had indicated where the Owl Statue was. It was located on top of a small pillar, I saw. It looked exactly like the one from the basement, but it had a hole in its chest that was likely to respond to the Dominion Rod.

I transformed back into a human and then took out the Dominion Rod, pointing it at the statue, firing the orb into the hole of the statue. Sure enough, the Owl Statue lit up and I guided it down off the pillar.

Now what?

Midna popped out of the shadows and floated over to the statue, inspecting it. She came to the spot where it once stood and gasped.

"Link! Look at this! There's something written underneath where the statue was standing! I think it's Sky Writing..."

Puzzled, I climbed onto the pillars and skipped over them to look at the spot. Sure enough, glowing on the spot was a Sky Writing character. I took the book out, and the character seemed to glow and appear right on the page.

"Unbelievable...it's beginning a whole new word..." Midna remarked. "Come on Link, let's go find those other owl statues! They must have the rest of the word."

I nodded, and then we warped to the next location, which was in South Faron Woods.

It was hard to get to, since the location was near Coro's house, past a couple of boulders blocking the way. But thanks to my bomb arrows, we got through and came to the statue, which contained the next character.

Afterward, we then warped to Castle Town, near the entrance, and went to an Owl Statue that was at the lookout point overlooking Lake Hylia where we had been with Telma and Ilia when we escorted them and Prince Ralis to Kakariko Village. We moved the Owl Statue and then took the next letter.

We then made our way toward the Great Bridge of Hylia, to where the next Owl Statue was. It was on a ledge, almost hard to have been able to find. But we managed to get the character and move on to the next location.

The next statue was at the Bridge of Eldin, so we warped there and found the statue on a ledge next to the arc of the bridge. We collected the character and continued on our way to the next statue.

Then we warped to Kakariko Gorge, and went over to the next statue, which was wedged along a nook in the cliffside. I moved it aside and then collected the final character.

Sure enough, the missing characters had created a different word! Shad would definitely be pleased with this. Maybe it would bring us closer to finding a way into the heavens.

We warped back to Kakariko Village and went into the sanctuary's basement. Sure enough, Shad was back down there, looking at the owl statue. Now I knew what we had to do, we had to move that statue out of the way. But since it didn't have a hole in its chest, we were unable to.

I took out the Sky Writing book and handed it to Shad.

"Is this the book from last time?" Shad asked, taking it from me, reading the page. "...Hm? Are there more letters in the word than the last time I looked at this? How did you investigate the... Link, this is amazing! Amazing! Now THIS must be the word we need! Let's try it immediately!"

Shad held the book out at arms length, chanting in the strange Sky language. I stared at the statue, and sure enough, the strange symbol on its chest glowed green and then it dissipated, leaving a hole. Now it looked like the other ones.

"Ah!" Shad gasped. "It has taken on the same shape as the other statues... What can this mean? And I thought we had solved the last of the riddles... Blast! How confounding! I must apologize, Link. I need to cool off a tad before I mull the problem further..."

Disappointed and defeated, Shad slowly left the room. I felt bad for the poor guy. He didn't even know that we actually did solve the last riddle. At least, I hope we did. Only one way to find out.

I took out the Dominion Rod and fired the orb at the statue, then moved it out of the way. Sure enough, it was blocking a doorway. A staircase leading down into another room.

Descending the stairs, I came into the room and gasped in amazement.

Inside the room, was a cannon. It was broken apart and lying around in different parts, but it was still intact. Wow! Won't Shad be surprised when he sees this!

I was about to turn back and go get him, but then I heard someone enter the room behind me.

"Link?!" Came Shad's voice. I turned around and he came toward me. "How in blazes did you move that statue?! And...what's this..." That's when he noticed the cannon for the first time. He walked toward it, staring up at it in amazement. "Amazing! Spectacular! This must be the legendary Sky Cannon I read about in my father's notes! I knew that my intuition was onto something when it led me here! ...But how can one use this to get to the City in the Sky?"

The City in the Sky? Is that what this cannon was for? That was probably where the mirror shard was! We had to get this cannon out to a safe place and use it to launch to the sky, I guessed.

But how would we get it out? It was far too heavy for anyone to carry, and even if we were able to, it would take forever.

Of course! Midna! She could warp it out!

I went closer to the cannon and Midna popped out of the shadows, floating over it.

"A cannon, huh? What do you plan to do with this, Link?"

"We should warp it out of here somewhere." I said to her, making sure Shad couldn't hear me.

"...Except that guy's still watching us..." Midna said, pointing to Shad, who was mulling over his notes.

Oh, right. If Shad saw us warping the cannon out of here and then us right after it, he would definitely be scared stiff or would get us into trouble.

Although I did feel bad for him, asking him to leave and all. He did help us get here, without him we would've been stuck for sure.

"Shad, could you step outside for a minute?" I asked him.

"...Ahh!" Shad said in understanding. "Perhaps...I am in your way? Well, forgive me for not realizing! I should just disappear at times like this, really. So... Let me know the results some other time, Link."

"It's nothing personal." I assured him. "I just need to...think things through."

Shad nodded and then headed to the doorway, then turned back. "...Ah yes! Let me give you one last piece of advice... That seems to be broken, so you'd do well to show it to a cannon expert first, I should say! Farewell!"

I thanked Shad for his help and then he left.

Midna popped out of the shadows, looking after Shad. "...I wonder if I put him off?" She looked back at the cannon. "He's right though, it does look like it's broken. What should we do, Link?"

I thought for a moment, wondering who could help fix the cannon on such short notice.

That's when I remembered. Fyer! He operated a cannon at Lake Hylia, so surely he would be able to fix a cannon and get it working again.

"Let's warp it to Lake Hylia." I told Midna. "Fyer should know how to fix the cannon."

Midna nodded and then coated the cannon with her twilight magic. She grunted and lifted her arms up to lift the cannon into the air. It dissolved into twilight squares and disappeared through the hole in the ceiling. Then we followed suit, warping to Lake Hylia.

We came to Lake Hylia, and the cannon was now laying there in its pathetic heap of broken parts. I transformed into a human and made my way down the bridges and crossings over to where Fyer was.

"Hey, buddy!" Fyer greeted. He then noticed the cannon over where we'd left it. I guess it was was more conspicuous than I thought. "So... Uh, is that yours? Heh heh... Hey, buddy, I never thought you'd get so hooked on the fascination that you'd try to build your own cannon! So...are you gonna give me the tour or what? Looks like you have a serious rig over there..."

I nodded and we went over to where the cannon was. Fyer studied it for a moment.

"Whoa! It's kind of...retro, huh? And there's no ignition device, so you can't even use it. Listen buddy, I might be able to fix it for you... I mean, maybe... That is, if you can pay me 300 rupees...in advance. Whaddya say?"

300 rupees?! Well, I suppose it would be a pretty big job and would take a while. Oh well, we had to get up there and I saw the only way through was to get this thing repaired. So I nodded and then paid him the money.

"Heh heh... I knew you'd see the light, buddy." Fyer chuckled. "Now I'll just be a sec!"

It took him three days to repair it. Three days! So to pass the time during the few days, we went looking for some golden bugs, checked on the kids in Kakariko Village, hunted for some poes, went fishing, and occasionally came to the lake to see Fyer's progress.

Finally, on the morning after the third day, we came back and Fyer had fixed the cannon. It stood good as new, right where we had warped it to. It was also on legs, facing upward.

"Here we go, buddy." Said Fyer, gesturing to the repaired cannon. "All working as it should...I think. It may look like junk, but this thing's got some powerful innards! You're going to be knocking on the door to the heavens! Seriously, bud... It might be rough! So... I'm sorry for soaking you for the dough. I'll leave you alone then. Heh heh... Well, you just have all the fun you want, OK, buddy?"

I thanked Fyer for his help and he went off back to his station. Once he was out of sight, I studied the cannon and looked for a way to get inside it.

Then I noticed, at the other end of it, was a clawshot medallion. Maybe that would work! So I took out my clawshot and fired it in, hooking onto the medallion and taking us inside.

I then heard squeaking and the ruffling of feathers behind me, and Ooccoo and her son hopped into the cannon with us!

The cannon then MOVED, pointing right up to the sky, and before I knew it, we were all blasted out of the cannon and flying right up into the sky!


	26. City in the Sky

Wow, I can't believe we're actually here. At the City in the Sky! I tell ya, the first time I played this game, I had no idea WHAT to expect! Especially at first when I knew we had to get to "the heavens", I didn't understand. X3

Well anyway, here we are! Let's venture into the City in the Sky!

Oh. And did anyone but me notice how the first half of the battle against Argorok (the dragon boss), seemed a little BIT similar to how we were dealing with Gohma from _Wind Waker_? Having to pull Valoo's tail? XD I noticed that the first time and laughed!

Anyway, on with the show!

--

We were launched into the air, and then soon careening down, down. I yelled out loudly and then we struck water.

Huh? Water? Had we landed back in Lake Hylia? Did the cannon not shoot us far enough?

I kicked to the surface, and I suddenly saw we weren't Hyrule anymore. Were we really in the sky? We'd landed in a small pool, with steps leading out to different bridges.

There was squawking and a small splash beside me, and I looked to see Ooccoo and Ooccoo Jr. land in the water near me.

"Phew! Gracious, we made it back! Finally! Welcome, adventurer! This is the sky city of the Oocca. Erm, since you came all this way...I guess I can give you a tour of the city..." She suddenly looked off behind me and gasped. "EEEK!"

I craned my neck to see what was wrong, and I immediately saw why. A dragon adorned with armor was flying right toward us! The dragon roared as it soared past us, above the panicked squawking of probably the Oocca. Staring in shock, I watched as the dragon flew off toward a nearby tower and disappeared behind it.

On the steps nearby, an Oocca came running in panic. It then spoke to Ooccoo in a strange, squawking language I didn't recognize. Ooccoo responded back and then turned to us as I swam closer.

"Ooh, goodness... Brave adventurer, you won't believe it! There's a dragon raging outside the citywalls... Ooh, I'm terribly worried about everyone... I'm going to check in that shop for survivors!"

She hurried off toward the building across the bridge with the other Oocca. I swam out of the water and went to go after her, but a gust of wind blew right AT me! It was very strong and nearly knocked me off my feet.

I noticed there were also sections of the bridge that weren't closed out, so I knew I'd be a goner if I wasn't careful.

"Link! Your iron boots! The force of the wind won't knock you back!" Midna said from the shadows.

I nodded and then she slipped the iron boots out and I stepped into them. Another gust of wind blew at me, but luckily I had the iron boots to help me make it across. Once the wind cleared, I hurried across to the shop. The door slid open and I went inside.

The shop had some handy supplies, so we bought some arrows, bombs, and even filled a bottle with some red potion, which I heard was supposed to be healing. Ooccoo was there, and she and her son of course came after us to help us out.

So apparently we had to take care of that dragon. All right then, onward.

Coming back outside, I took in the sky city. All of the buildings were floating in the clouds, with propellers on the underside that I guessed was to keep them in the air. No wonder, all the way up here, the wind blew constant strong gusts so I guessed it was easy to keep the place afloat. It was pretty interesting, unlike anything I had ever seen before.

We went back outside and then swam in the water to the other bridge, and managed to cross over without falling. The door ahead of us was barred with another door.

"Adventurer, the blue diamond above opens that door!" Ooccoo told me.

I looked up and saw a small blue diamond, much like the ones I'd seen back in the Temple of Time and the Goron Mines. So I took out my clawshot and fired it at the diamond. It glowed green and then the barred door slid open.

We came into the first room, and there was a large gap between us and the other side of the room. I looked down and all I saw was sky. I knew it would be a bad idea if I tried to jump across, it was too far. How would we get across now?

A couple of Oocca were wandering around near me, looking up at me curiously from time to time. Ooccoo went over to them and explained something in the strange sky language.

"They can help you across, adventurer!" Ooccoo said, turning to me. "Just pick one up and hold them high, then jump!"

Oh, now I get it. Kind of like that golden chicken Rusl gave me to use in order to get across the gorge to the Sacred Grove. So I picked up an Oocca and then jumped over the ledge. My stomach lurched, afraid I was going to fall, but the Oocca glided us gracefully across the gap and landing safely on the other side.

The city was a very tricky dungeon, since it contained blue-coloured blocks that would fall when weight was pressed onto them, and in every room we came to, there were gaps and holes leading down into the sky. We had to be careful, like in the Goron Mines with all the lava. Luckily, Ooccoo helped guide us through and told us where to go next.

Soon we came into this room, having had to pull down a fixture to stop a rotating fan. We lowered down into the room, and it was deserted.

I suddenly heard snarling and something rush past me behind me. I tensed, drawing my sword and looking around. Right then, it came above me a few feet away, lowering down. It was a strange-looking lizard creature with wings, and a sword and shield. The shield was also a clawshot medallion, for some reason.

The flying lizard snarled at us and hovered in the air. I tried shooting it with my arrows, but it blocked my every attack. And with it in the air, I couldn't strike it with my sword.

Suddenly, it changed its pose and held out its shield before it, the medallion facing me. That's when I got an idea.

I drew out my clawshot and shot it at the shield. Sure enough, it grasped onto it and pulled the flying lizard to us. With it close, I drew my sword and slashed at it before the flying lizard flew back into the air.

We had to repeat the process a few more times, it was trickier since the flying lizard would now fly out through the openings in the walls and then come flying back in through another hole, but finally it fell to the ground and exploded into nothing.

Barred doors opened on a ledge above us, revealing a treasure chest. There was a clawshot medallion up above, so I used that with the clawshot and went up to the ledge.

Popping the lid, I pulled out...another clawshot? But I already had one! What was I supposed to do with it?

"You know adventurer, having a second one could come in handy!" Ooccoo remarked. "Why don't you try using them?"

It was worth a try. I took out my other clawshot, and saw a few medallions behind bars on the ceiling, I had to use them to get out. I fired one clawshot to it, and hung there. And then I realized it. With two clawshots, I could hang on one medallion and fire myself to the next without having to drop to the ground! It really was handy to have two.

We made our way out of the room and continued along the city walls.

In some places outside, there were strange flying creatures called Peahats that were flying around. I'd seen a few back in Gerudo Desert, and you could use them to fly over ledges, or to make your way from one to the next in order to cross a gap.

Later on we finally found the big key, that would take us to the boss chamber. We had to lower down into the "foyer" room, and activate the large fan in order to get across to the building where the dragon was flying around.

Before long, we finally made our way up to the top of this large, grassy platform with tall towering wire panels.

I walked along the platform, looking around for the dragon. The sky suddenly grew cloudier, started to rain, and I heard the flapping of large wings above me.

Sure enough, the dragon circled around the platform and then swooped over me dangerously. It roared menacingly, as if challenging me to come closer.

There had to be a way to get it down somehow! It was dressed in armor, and had a strange little cage hanging at the end of its tail. Hmm...

On the panels around the platform, there were wires and so I used the clawshots to make my way up on them. The dragon hovered up after me, and then blew fire right toward me! Luckily I managed to clawshot over to the next panel before the flames hit me.

I climbed to the top of the panel, and then took a chance. I aimed the clawshot to the cage hanging on its tail, and fired toward it. I then slipped into the iron boots, dragging myself toward the ground.

Sure enough, it worked! The dragon cried out in pain as it was being dragged down, and then we fell to the ground, where some of its armor clattered off.

It then lifted itself up and flew back into the sky. So I repeated the process and brought it down a second time.

This time, its armor clattered off and revealed a jewel lodged into a frame on its back. Could that have been its weakpoint?

But before I could move, the dragon suddenly rose up, shaking off from being stunned. It rose into the air, and then shed the rest of its armor. Great, now I wouldn't be able to get close to it.

The dragon rose into the hair high above us, making it hard to reach even from the top of the pillars.

I heard a strange rustling in the ground, and looked to see some Peahats sprout from the ground! They rose from the ground, and then lifted up in a circle above the pillars! High enough to reach the dragon, but close enough for me to clawshot to them from the pillars.

The winds were badly raging now with the rain, so we had to be careful.

I made my way up the pillars, and then chanced it with the Peahats. I shot from one to the next, with the dragon following my every move. I had to get behind it, and get to that jewel on its back somehow. Maybe I had to do it like when I defeated Morpheel, clawshotting to its back and then stabbing the jewel with my sword.

The dragon then paused, let out a snarl and breathed fire toward us! But it bought me some time since it didn't move, so it allowed me to clawshot from Peahat to Peahat until I got behind it. I fired the clawshot toward the jewel on the dragon's back, and I shot right at it. Clinging on as the dragon swerved, I drew my sword and struck the jewel a few times. Sure enough, the dragon roared in agony as I did this and I realized it was indeed its weak point.

Then the dragon plummeted to the ground, trying to shake me off. But I held on and managed to jump off as we hit the ground. It shook itself off and then rose back into the air. Here we go again.

I had to repeat the process a few more times, and finally, when I hit the ground, the dragon let out a few agonizing roars as it breathed out fire along the sky. It tried to fly off, but it was weak and defeated. It fell toward us, and then exploded into nothing.

Then the mirror shard formed into a whole, and came floating down toward us. I couldn't believe it, we finally had the last shard!

Midna popped out of the shadows, and took it from me. "Link, you did it! It's the fourth shard! Now we have them all! Hey...Link. The words of the sages... Do you remember them? Only the true ruler of the Twili can destroy the Mirror of Twilight. Zant could only break the Mirror of Twilight into shards... He couldn't utterly shatter it. That's proof of his false kingship."

She floated over to the ground and created a portal. "Link, we have to hurry! To the Mirror Chamber! After all, a fake is a fake...and no matter how much you dress it up, the real thing always wins!"

My stomach sank then, since now we were definitely able to restore the Mirror of Twilight and go into the Twilight Realm to defeat Zant once and for all. That meant afterward, it would all be over. The idea of parting ways with Midna was really getting to me now, I could feel it coming close.

I shook my head at the thought, no time to think about it now. We still had time together, and we would go and defeat Zant side by side. I went to the portal and we warped out of there.


	27. Palace of Twilight

Holy macaroni! We're here! To the Twilight Realm! Like I said before, whoever composed the music for the Palace of Twilight (outside), was just BRILLIANT. I am in love with that music. It's dark, but beautiful. I love it. :D And it looks beautiful too.

I had no idea Midna was the Twilight Princess when I first played the game. So you can imagine MY surprise! XD

Oh my God! Only a few more chapters to go. It's almost over! Wowie. It feels like yesterday that I first started this. Ah, good times, good times.

Anyway, here we go!

--

We warped out from the platform and came back down below, near a cannon that looked like the Sky Cannon from down below. Was this to shoot us back to Hyrule? It made sense, since jumping and falling wouldn't do any good.

So we let Ooccoo off and said our goodbyes, promising to come visit sometime. Then I used the clawshot to get into the cannon. Sure enough, it shot downward, and we landed in Lake Hylia.

From there on, we then warped off to the Mirror Chamber.

We went to where the Mirror lay, and the three shards we'd obtained flew out, and were set to their original places on the frame of the mirror. The Mirror of Twilight was whole again.

The glass shone with a bright light, and the chains holding the large, black rock ahead of us dissolved into dust and the rock fell to the ground and sunk partly into the sand. Then the mirror tilted back on its frame, cascading the bright light in the shape of the circles with the Twili markings along them, with the Hyrule crest, the Triforce, right in the middle. The light shapes shone onto the rock, which lit up in white Twili markings and in the centre were the circles, a reflection of the mirror.

Midna popped out of the shadows, floating beside me as she watched this all happen.

"Some call our realm a world of shadows, but that makes it sound unpleasant..." She said softly. "The twilight there holds a serene beauty... You have seen it yourself as the sun sets on this world. Bathed in that light, all people were pure and gentle... But things changed once that foul power pervaded the world..."

"It was all our doing..." Came the ghostly voice of one of the Sages from behind us.

We turned around and saw all the Sages gathered near us on the ground.

"We underestimated our abilities as sages and attempted to put an end to Ganondorf's evil magic... I hope you can find it yourself to forgive our carelessness..." They then bowed in respect. "O Twilight Princess."

Twilight Princess? Midna?

I looked at Midna in shock, and I just couldn't believe it. Midna was the true ruler of the Twilight! It made sense, no wonder she was so determined and true about defeating Zant and restoring peace to the Twilight Realm. All this time, I was helping the Twilight Princess. Why didn't she tell me?

Midna looked a bit surprised and then lowered her gaze, looking uncomfortable. "What? So...you knew?"

She paused, looking a bit angered as she seemed to remember something. "As a ruler who fled her people, I'm hardly qualified to forgive you."

Then she launched into a story about how Zant had confronted her on the balcony of the Palace of Twilight, and had used his magic to transform her into the form of an imp. She then said she had walked away from the palace after having been banished from the Twilight Realm, and had stumbled upon a Fused Shadow, the power of her ancestors. She knew the rest of them were stored in the Light world, so she took this as a blessing in disguise and go find the rest of the Fused Shadows and then defeat Zant.

Then she turned to me. "In our world, we've long believed that the Hero would appear as a divine beast. That's why when I found you, I thought I could use you, Link. And I only cared about returning our world to normal... I didn't care about what happened to the world of light, not at all."

Midna floated over to face the mirror, I followed her. There was a small rectangular space on the platform that was lit up, probably from the mirror.

Now it all made sense. No wonder she helped me out of that dungeon, transforming into a wolf not only was a sign of my ancestor's power, but also the tale of the Hero in the form of a divine beast told by her people. That was why she wanted me to help her, because apparently I was that divine beast. It wasn't dumb luck that she found me, she'd apparently seen my transformation and followed until she was in the dungeon with me.

And now here we were, after countless obstacles and searching, we restored the Mirror of Twilight and were finally able to go and defeat Zant once and for all.

"But after witnessing the selfless lengths that Princess Zelda and you have gone to... Your sacrifices... I now know, in the bottom of my heart, that I must save this world too. There is no other way." Midna continued. "If we can just defeat Zant, the curse on me will dissolve, and we may be able to revive Zelda."

She floated closer to me, looking determined. "Let's go, Link! For Zelda! For all the world!"

I nodded and smiled at her. "Let's go, Midna. Let's defeat Zant and save the Twilight Realm, and Hyrule."

Midna smiled back and then disappeared into my shadow. I heard the Sages utter ghostly moans as they then faded away behind me.

The strange lit up space on the platform was probably the way to go through the void. So I stepped onto it, and they formed into stairs that were made of that light, but solid. At the top was a circular platform, also a reflection of the Mirror of Twilight.

I ascended the steps and stood on the light platform, facing the void on the black rock. My body then dematerialized into twilight squares and went flying into the void. We were off into the Twilight Realm.

--

My body reformed, and I stepped off from the lit spot that was also a reflection of the Mirror of Twilight. Behind me, the void was the same as it was back on the rock, probably leading out.

I stepped out onto the ground and looked around where we were. We were at the Palace of Twilight.

Midna was right, it was so beautiful here. The black and golden sky was just like the sky was back when the twilight had shrouded Hyrule. The buildings ahead of us were on large ground platforms, floating in the middle of all the twilight sky. Off to the distance, I could see other floating platforms with their own buildings. Looking down over the edge, it was an endless abyss. Something told me that one wrong move and it would be the end, kind of like back in the City in the Sky.

Ahead of us was the Palace that Midna mentioned, probably where Zant was. It was a tall, gray-ish building standing higher up than the other two buildings on either side of it.

I couldn't help but take a moment to soak in the serene beauty of the Twilight Realm. Even if it wasn't anything I didn't see before, it was more right to see it here, and not shrouding where it wasn't supposed to be.

Midna then popped out of the shadows, looking a bit sheepish. "Um, listen Link... Can I ask you one last selfish favor? Regardless of what my reasons may have been, I once abandoned this world... I left behind the Twili. Those who had followed me... Who considered me their ruler... Even now, as they remain here, suffering, they believe that help will come for this world... But if they were to see that the only help for them was a hideous little imp... Don't you think they'd feel let down? It's only for a little while longer... Do you mind if I continue to hide as your shadow while you're in human form? I'm sorry..."

"I don't mind, Midna." I assured her. "I understand your reasoning, if you feel better hiding in my shadow for now, it's okay." In all truth, I'd gotten used to her hiding in my shadow all this time, it felt so right. It did comfort me knowing she was still close by.

She smiled gratefully. "Thank you... I'm glad you understand, Link." She disappeared into my shadow.

We then set off toward the Palace of Twilight. To our left was a connected platform, which I guessed would be our safest bet to try first. The way into the Palace up ahead was blocked off, we probably couldn't get in there yet.

Up ahead was a circular spot with a few stranger-looking Twilight Messengers standing around. They were just standing there, and looked different.

I approached one of them, but Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Wait! This guy isn't an enemy, Link. They might look different, but...they're inhabitants of this world... They're my people. Zant... How could he..."

"So they won't attack?" I asked her.

Midna shook her head. "No, but it's best if we don't get too close either. Let's go, Link. We'll start in the west building, there's something that can help us out."

I nodded and she disappeared into my shadow. I headed over to the other connecting platform, to where that building was.

The door had the aqua twili symbols along it, that glowed as I approached it and slid up to allow me entry.

We went along inside the place, from room to room, encountering Twilit monsters I'd seen back in Hyrule, along with a new enemy. Heads that were in the shape of Zant's strange mask. They shot beams of light at me, and were able to teleport to different locations, but with the help of the shield attack and the Master Sword, I took good care of them.

There was also strange, dark clouds there were around the place. I let my curiosity get the better of me and approached them. Once I was within the fog, I transformed into a wolf and Midna plopped onto my back.

"Link, be careful... This black fog is made up of shadow crystals created by Zant. They blot out light... He's responsible for stealing the light from the spirits turning your world into twilight..." She explained. "But he's not all-powerful. We're prepared too. I can return you to your normal state whenever you need me, so don't worry, OK?"

I smiled as close to a wolf could smile and nodded in confirmation. Midna was a lot less devilish and cynical than when I first met her, it was great having a partner like her.

We then later came to this large, empty room. There was a source of light up ahead, which got me curious. As I approached it, the familiar barriers shot down, blocking my way to get to the strange light orb held in a hand, and the way we came in.

Zant then appeared before me. Or, at least what looked like Zant. I realized it was just an astral hologram. Phantom Zant, apparently.

The Phantom Zant then summoned an orb of red light, the same orb I'd collided my forehead into back at Lanayru's Spring, and it opened a portal above us, releasing a horde of Twilit Keese.

I fought off the monsters he summoned, and realized he was using them to distract me from attacking him. He often teleported, making it impossible for me to attack him. But finally I managed to get close to him and let the Master Sword have its say on him.

Before long, he cried out in agony and then exploded into the dark fog from before, nearly clouding the entire room. Great.

I went over to where the strange hand was holding the light orb, studying it curiously.

Midna must've sensed my curiosity since she popped out of the shadows. "That shining sphere illuminates this world. It's called a Sol. It's like the sun of your world, Link. The power of the Sol is the source of life in this world... It is pure power." Then she thought for a moment and seemed to think of an idea. "Ah! As long as you have this... Would you take this to the Twili at the entrance to this world? Please, Link!"

I think I saw what she was trying to do. If we took the Sol to the entrance where the Twili were, maybe it would help them! Smart idea.

I wasn't sure how to free the Sol, so I took my sword and poked the hand a few times. The fingers loosened and the Sol dropped to the ground. I picked it up above my head and headed out to leave the room.

When I approached the dark fog, it lifted away! It was able to clear dark magic, too.

"Link, put the Sol in that spot there." Midna said, pointing to a circular groove in the floor. "It'll get us out of here."

I nodded and placed the Sol in the small round hole. It lit up, and stairs appeared before us, that led to the door we'd come through.

There was suddenly a strange rumbling behind us, and I turned around. To my horror, the strange hand holding the Sol before was coming right at us! It was floating in the air, slowly coming to us, probably trying to take the Sol back.

I picked it up and started to leave, but the stairs disappeared as I pulled the Sol out of the hole. It was our only way out, but if I put the Sol down, the strange hand would get it! What to do?

Then I had an idea.

I placed the Sol back where it was, and climbed up the stairs to the top. The hand was getting closer, so I had to act fast. I drew out one of my clawshots, and fired it at the Sol. Sure enough, it grasped it and brought it over to me. I then took it and hurried out of the room.

Now with the Sol safely in our arsenal, we could go back outside and use it to help the Twili.

Suddenly, I heard a strange noise and I looked to see red twilit markings appear on the wall, and the hand from before was coming out of it! I couldn't believe it, the strange thieving hand could go through walls!

We had to get out of here, fast.

It was harder this time around, since the strange monsters I'd see in the Hyrule Castle Sewers were attacking me, I placed the Sol down and made my way up the winded staircase, picked up the Sol with my clawshot, and then made my way down to the door and got out of there.

Sure enough, the hand came through the wall in the next room, but we were almost outside so it wouldn't be long now. We didn't need to do anything in this room, so we dodged the monsters and made out way out of there.

Finally, we were back outside. The hand didn't come after us again, thankfully.

The Twili standing next to us then suddenly dissolved and the mask disappeared. It was now a regular Twili, apparently.

We went to the entrance, where the other Twili were, and there were two holes that were like the ones from back inside. I went to the Twili with the Sol and restored them, then placed the Sol in the hole.

A green square then appeared on the ground nearby us, facing the other platform to the right. Maybe it would help us get across since we couldn't easily access that one.

Midna then popped out of the shadows. "Link... There should be one more Sol. If we find that, it could lead us to Zant."

I went over to the space in the ground that was lit up, and sure enough, it rose up as a platform and floated over to the other side. It was transparent, but solid. Interesting.

We landed on the other side and went in through the door.

Inside we were faced with more Twilit Keese, Zant Heads, and having to cross the room on platforms. It was hard, what with the Zant Heads shooting their projectile beams at us, but with the Shield Attack, I sent it flying away and we could continue.

The next room was filled with the dark fog, and we had to fight a few Twilight Messengers and Zant Heads. We also had to get the key to get to the next room by having to use the clawshot along the twilit medallions on the ceiling and the ledges.

Finally, we came into the room that held the Sol. I had to fight off Phantom Zant again, which went the same way as before. After defeating him, he exploded the dark fog around us.

After we defeated him, I went to the hand and hit it with my sword and took the Sol when it fell out and rolled to the ground.

As expected, the animated hand followed us again as we made our way out, creating the stairways we needed to ascend to the door.

We finally made it back outside, and took the platform space over to the main entrance, where I placed the Sol in the second space adjacent to the other one.

Standing in between them, the Sols disappeared and created a larger circle between them, beneath where I was standing. Right then, the Master Sword was suddenly glowing!

I didn't know what was happening as I stared at the Master Sword with amazement as the blade was now encased with a beautiful, golden holy light. It shone brighter and brighter, and Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Amazing..." She said in awe, unable to believe it herself. "The power of the Sols has been transferred to your sword... The guardian deities of my world on our side, too! You really are the chosen one, Link... A true hero!" She smiled in admiration as she said that and I felt my cheeks grow hot. She giggled and then went on. "As long as you have that sword, you should be able to repel the shadows Zant has spread!" She disappeared into my shadow again.

Unbelievable, the Master Sword now had the pure power of the Sols! It was just what we needed to repel the shadows and get to Zant.

So we went up the slanted walkway toward the Palace of Twilight.

The dark fog was raining down between the gap breaking between here and the entrance, like a waterfall. A few twilit kargoroks were there, and surprisingly, one hit from the Master Sword killed them instantly! Wow, how handy.

Using the spin attack, I brushed away the fog and jumped over to the other side, going into the palace.

It was bigger, and harder this time around to get through. We used a few orbs that were similar to the sols, which helped us create staircases. There were also these orbs set in fixtures and when hit with the power of the sols, they would light up and create platforms. We encountered more Zant Heads and Twilit Messengers, and as expected, one hit from the Sol-encased Master Sword and they were finished.

Later we came out onto the balcony of the palace, which had a beautiful view of the Twilight sky. It was practically seeing it up a lot closer.

No time to enjoy it though, we had to take care of the pesky twilit kargoroks flying around. Not to mention the Zant Heads and occasional Twilit Messenger.

Afterward, we had to jump another gap that had a dark fog waterfall and get the key we needed to reach the next room.

Inside the next room, we had to ascend our way up using the clawshots and the moving platforms again. We soon got the Big Key, which led into the room where Zant was.

The next room, we were faced with quite a few Twilight Messengers at a time! But luckily one hit from the Master Sword and they were dead meat. It was our last obstacle before we came to the large, heavily locked door that lead to Zant.

Unlocking the door, it opened, and we then went through, ready and waiting to defeat Zant once and for all.

--

We went up the stairs, and Zant was sitting on the throne, as if waiting for us. Midna popped out of the shadows as we approached the throne, floating beside me.

"Zant." Midna said venomously. "Isn't this ironic? Here we are, all thanks to the dark magic curse you placed on Link!" She grinned maliciously.

Zant was silent for a moment, and then he stood up from the throne, slowly. "You speak of magic? Still your tongue for a moment, whelp, and I will tell you of both magic and the oppression of ages..." He approached the top step, and his helmet lifted up off his head and receded into his back.

I stared at him in surprise now that I saw his face for the first time. He had a strangely shaped head, and probably no hair. His eyes were orange and yellow, and his lips were a light shade of purple, with black marks on either side. The bridge of his weirdly-shaped nose also had a strange symbol embedded in the skin.

"In the shadows we regressed, so much that we soon knew neither anger nor hatred...nor even the faintest bloom of desire." Zant went on, stretching out his arms and twisting his body and head out of shape. "And all of it was the fault of a useless, do-nothing royal family that had resigned itself to this miserable half-existence!" He released himself from the strange contortionist position and stamped his feet in a tantrum before he stood, slouched over a little. "I had served and endured in that depraved household for far too long, my impudent princess."

Bravely, I spoke up. "If it was that bad, then why did you endure it like you have?"

Zant flew right at us, yelling out like a crazy man and spinning in circles behind us. "And why, you ask? Because I believed I would be the next to rule our people! THAT is why!" He then bent over backwards, going on with his story. "But would they acknowledge me as their king? No! And as such, I was denied the magic powers befitting our ruler. It was then, in the thrall of hatred and despair, that I turned my eyes to the heavens...and found a god."

He then told us a story about how he had gone out onto the palace's balcony, and had basically threw a little tantrum-not that he said it that way-and he heard a strange rushing noise and had looked up into the sky, seeing a strange large ball of energy coming toward him. It engufled him and he saw the face of who he called his "God", who had said _"I shall house my power in you... If there is anything you desire, then I shall desire it too."_

And then it was gone, and Zant was left standing there, amazed and housed with the strange and powerful magic that his "God" held.

That "God" sounded suspiciously like Ganondorf. Zant had acquired Ganondorf's power, as the Sages spoke about, and now he's telling us how he got his power. It was obvious that Ganondorf was his god.

With his helmet back on, Zant stood and faced us. "My god had only one wish..." He disappeared and reappeared at the throne. "To merge shadow and light...and make darkness!"

Zant rose into the air above the ground, and waved his hands, creating the strange red markings symbol we'd seen when the animated hands would come through the wall. What happened next was shocking.

When the darkness cleared, we were now standing inside the Boss Chamber inside the Forest Temple! What was going on? Did Zant transport us back here?

No time for that! We had to fight Zant.

Zant was floating above the once-again poisoned water, firing a bunch of projectile beams at me like crazy. I tried shooting him with my arrows, but that didn't work, and neither did my clawshots.

"Link! Your Gale Boomerang!" Midna called fom the shadows.

Of course!

I drew it out and threw it toward Zant. The wind dizzied him and he came right to me, where I let the Master Sword have its say. It was still glowing with the power of the Sols, so we were still inside the Twilight Realm. I guessed this was all an advanced illusion.

After repeating the process again, Zant rose up and then used the strange magic again, darkening the room around us.

This time we were on the circular platform in the Goron Mines where we fought the Goron Guard before obtaining the bow and arrows.

Zant was at one end of the platform, jumping up and down like a child on a bed. I slipped on the iron boots to keep from losing my balance, and the floor of the platform still had its magnetic floors. Zant shot projectiles at me, and then once he was tired and panting, I removed the boots and ran at him, slashing him with my sword.

After doing that again, Zant then created the next room, which was the Boss Chamber in the Lakebed Temple. We were under water, so I slipped into my Zora Armor and the Iron Boots.

Right then, something rose from under the sand, and it was a gigantic Zant Head! The mouthpiece slid up open, and Zant was inside, shooting projectiles at me again.

Getting an idea, I took out one of my clawshots and fired it at him, bringing him toward me. It worked, and so I slashed at him with my sword before he retreated.

The Zant Head then sunk into the sand, and four more rose in its place around the chamber! I'm guessing we had to see which one Zant was hiding in.

One of them opened up, revealing Zant, and like before, used the clawshot to draw him in and attack him.

After trouncing him again, Zant created the next room. This time it was the room where I'd battled the monkey boss, Ook, in the Forest Temple.

I changed out of the Zora Armor and Iron boots, and Zant jumped around from pillar to pillar, laughing at me and throwing projectiles. I figured that I'd have to roll into the pillars like I had done before.

I waited until Zant was standing, and then rolled into the pillar he was standing on twice. Sure enough, he fell down onto his head and I attacked him while he was down.

After repeating the process again, Zant created the next room, which was Yeto and Yeta's bedroom in Snowpeak Ruins, encased with ice just as it was when I fought off Blizzeta.

Zant grew in size, hovering above the ground. I was unsure of how to hit him, when I remembered the Ball N' Chain! I kept an eye on his reflection on the ground as I moved myself away to avoid being crushed by him.

Once he landed, I drew out the Ball N' Chain, and launched it at him. I hit his foot, and was about to attack again, but to my surprise, he slowly shrunk down as he hopped around the room holding his foot until he was practically the size of a Bombskit!

I ran at him and slashed the Master Sword against his small size, and then he grew larger and repeated the process all over again.

After that, Zant then created the next room, and this time, we were outside Castle Town in Hyrule Field near the South Gate.

Zant landed onto the ground and produced two curved blades, one in each hand. A twilit barrier surrounded us, and he came at me. Either slashing the blades, spinning around in a circle, and teleporting to different spots of the "arena" every time I tried to get close.

Then Zant stopped spinning and hunched over, panting. He was tired. Perfect!

I ran in and attacked him, enough until he bounced back and started the process all over again.

Defeated, Zant struggled to try to stay standing and then he fell to his knees, crying out in a tantrum before he finally fell over.

We were then back in the Throne Room, and the three Fused Shadows Zant had stolen from us flew over to Midna. We did it! We defeated Zant and got the Fused Shadows back!

Midna looked at her hands in surprise, and overjoyed that we got back what was taken from us, until Zant ruined the moment, again.

"Y-You...TRAITORS!" Zant yelled.

We turned around, and saw Zant still on the throne, hunched over without his helmet on. How was he alive? We just defeated him!

"Traitors, ha!" Midna spat. "You want to know why none would call you king? It was your eyes, Zant. All saw it, a lust for power burning in your pupils... Did you think we'd forget our ancestors lost their king to such greed?"

Panting, Zant looked up at us. "Midna... Foolish Twilight Princess... The curse on you cannot be broken... It was placed on you by the magic of my god! The power you held as leader of the Twili will never return!"

Midna was getting angry by now, her hair was twitching dangerously. We both tensed, bracing ourselves.

"Already he has descended and been reborn in this world... As long as my master, Ganon, survives, he will resurrect me without cease!" Zant went on, and opened his mouth wide in emphasis.

That was when Midna snapped, she'd had enough. Her hair thrust forward like three long daggers right at Zant, piercing him. Zant screeched out loudly as her magic weakened him and then he exploded into nothing.

Midna's hair receded back onto her head, and she was as surprised as I was to see such a powerful attack.

"I... I used just a fraction of the power that's in me now... I did THAT using only a fraction of my ancestors' magic?!" Midna paused, staring at the throne, and then she turned back to me. "Link! Now is the time! We must save Zelda! The evil power Zant was wielding... I couldn't take it from him. But at least I still have the magic of my ancestors... With it, I can return the cherished power Zelda bestowed upon me..."

She turned and then created a portal in the floor.

"Now! Let's go! Princess Zelda is waiting!"

I nodded, and then stepped into the portal after her, and we disappeared from the throne room.


	28. Hyrule Castle

Oh my God, I can't believe it. We're already here! This far! Amazing, isn't it?

Gosh, when Midna was transformed into that seven-legged spider creature from the Fused Shadows, I didn't know what to think! I thought it was so cool. Woooow!

Hyrule Castle, what a place! It was SO confusing for me at first, you have no idea. Even with the guidebook, it was all so...oh my God.

Well anyway, here we go!

--

We reappeared at the entrance near the Palace of Twilight, with the defeat of Zant under our belts. Now we had to go and defeat Ganondorf, the real person responsible for this whole thing.

As I walked toward the entrance that would lead back to the Mirror of Twilight in Arbiter's Grounds, Midna popped out of the shadows.

"So Ganondorf was just using Zant to help him return to world of light... I guess now we know the true nature of that barrier over Hyrule Castle... He's in Hyrule Castle, I'm sure of it... Princess Zelda is in grave danger! We must return to the world of light and hurry to the castle!" She said, sounding a bit panicked.

"Didn't Princess Zelda die after she'd saved your life?" I asked her, confused. If Zelda was alive, then what happened to her?

Midna shook her head. "No, she's still alive. I just...have her power, for lack of a better word. It was what helped me keep my solid form in the world of light. But with the Fused Shadows, I'll be able to give her back the power she gave to me."

I nodded, and looked toward the entrance. "All right. Let's go, Midna."

"Right, we must hurry!" Midna said, and disappeared back into my shadow.

So with that, I headed to the Mirror of Twilight entrance, and we disappeared through the portal, coming back into the world of light. Once safely back, we warped to Hyrule Castle, and went into town.

Of course, we ran into the postman, who handed over a few letters, I'd apparently forgotten about. I'll read them later.

We went around the town square, and went north, to where Hyrule Castle was.

The large, pyramid-shaped barrier was looming over us like a giant box, containing all of Hyrule Castle. Ganondorf was in there somewhere, and we had to go and find him, and defeat him.

Midna came from the shadows, floating out toward the archway near the large doors. I had a feeling she was going to use the Fused Shadows in order to break through the barrier.

Then, the Fused Shadows floated out from her, and flew at her, combining with the Fused Shadow helm she already wore, covering her entire upper body. She then suddenly went flying to the side into the wall, letting out a cry. Then she slammed into the other wall, and then disappeared above the ledge on the other side of the wall. Where had she gone? What was happening?

I stared in confusion, wondering what was going on and if Midna was all right, when there was a strange rumbling. Before I could react, a large, yellow and black arm suddenly shot up from behind the wall, grabbing onto the ledge and lifting up to reveal a strange creature with the Fused Shadows as a head.

I stared in absolute horror, terrified at the site when I realized it was Midna. Of course, I wasn't scared of the monster. I'd fought through so many monsters during this journey, that I barely even flinched. From surprise maybe, but not fright.

But seeing Midna like this, I couldn't help but feel scared for her. The power of the Fused Shadows must've made her this way, and was consuming her.

She was now a strange seven-legged spider-like creature, and she leaped at the barrier, crawling up the barrier wall like a spider. Her arm reared back, as if holding a weapon, and produced a long, golden spear, which she rammed into the barrier. Inevitably, there was a bright glow and the barrier seemed to be dissipating as the light grew brighter.

Midna slid down from the wall, reverting back to her regular form as the Fused Shadows retreated into her helm. She was unconscious and had a long way to fall from all the way up there.

Seeing this, I rushed toward her and caught her in my arms before she could fall to the ground. The light disappeared, and now it was raining.

I looked down at Midna, holding her close. I had to admit, she was pretty cuddly.

Midna stirred, opening her eyes as she slowly came to. I looked down at her with concern, and then smiled as she fully awoke, looking up at me. I was so relieved that she was all right, especially after being consumed from all that.

My gaze shifted, Midna followed my eyes, and we could now see that the barrier was broken, gone. We could get into Hyrule Castle now.

Once over it all, she went back into my shadow and we proceeded to the castle. I pushed open one of the large double doors, coming to a bridge leading to another set of double doors.

The White Wolf was waiting for me at the other side, so I went to him and the Hero's Shade taught me the final Hidden Skill, the Great Spin Attack.

Before I left, his final words to me were: "Go and do not falter, my child!"

...Could that mean...

I shook my head once I came back to the world, and decided to just go forth and continue to put the Hidden Skills he had taught me to good use.

We went to the second set of double doors, pushed one open, and stepped into the courtyard of Hyrule Castle.

It was HUGE. I'd seen it all from a distance, and from the rooftops, but now we were really seeing it up close. A few kargoroks were flying around, there were a set of doors up ahead that led inside the castle, and a monument set before me.

I went over to the doors, and saw that they were locked. Great, now we had to find the key. But where would we go?

"Link, over there!" Midna suddenly pointed to the left. "Maybe the key is beyond those doors?"

I looked and saw where she was pointing at. The courtyard was split into three ways, one being the left, straight ahead, and then the right. Well.

So we went to the left, where we had to battle off those annoying bulkoblins (I forgot their names), and then went through the sliding door to another part of the courtyard, where we fought off more of those annoying monsters.

Eventually, we came around the courtyard to this slightly raised large platform, which I guessed was maybe a dueling stage for tournaments or practices. As we stepped onto it, the same familiar golden barrier surrounded us.

Great, now what?

All of a sudden, I heard a noise from above and saw King Bulblin come down from above!

He landed a few feet away, toting his giant axe. He straightened and faced me, grinning when he opened his mouth. "I have come to play!" He said, his voice raspy and deep.

Needless to say, I was stunned that he had spoken for the first time since we'd encountered. Even today I still wondered how he survived the falls from the Bridge of Eldin and the Great Hylia Bridge, and then leaving Arbiter's Grounds.

But no time for that. I drew my sword and knew that it was once again going to be a duel against our old friend, the leader of the Bulblins.

Like our last match, I waited until he would swing his axe, which would slow him down and give me a good opening to attack. Every now and then he would block, so I even pulled him one better, using the Back Slice. Being fast and agile sure did come in handy against a big opponent.

Finally, with one last strike, he grunted loudly, tossing his head and upper body back. He straightened, and his expression softened a little as he reached for something tied to his belt, which he held out to me. A key.

"Enough." He said.

Slowly and cautiously, I approached and took the key from him. I wasn't sure what to say then, since this was the most surprising encounter we'd had. He surrendered, and spoke for the first time. It was unbelievable.

King Bulblin then got onto his boar, Lord Bulbo, and stopped a few feet away and looked at me. "I follow the strongest side! ...That is all I have ever known."

Then Lord Bulbo reared up and they rode away, going the way I came in.

So King Bulblin wasn't really evil after all. He was only following the strongest side, which I guessed had to be Ganondorf, or Zant. That was why he attacked and kidnapped the children, he was under orders to do it. It wasn't anything personal at all.

Still, it was so surprising, not to mention the fact he'd spoken for the first time.

Midna was apparently thinking the same thing as she popped out of the shadows as we watched him go.

"Link... He... He spoke."

"I know." I agreed. "That was strange."

She nodded, and then we continued on our way before we were interrupted.

With the key in our arsenal, we continued along the courtyard and eventually came to the front entrance of Hyrule Castle.

The foyer was HUGE! Almost as big as Ordon Village. There were chandeliers hanging around in the tall, tall ceiling, and ledges leading to different rooms, with no stairs.

Maybe the chandeliers would help...

We had to fight off some more monsters, including some Lizarfols, before we proceeded through the grand foyer.

As I thought, with the help of a small incomplete staircase and both my clawshots, I used the chandeliers to reach the ledge where the door led to the next room.

And guess what was in that room? A Darknut.

Luckily for me, I knew how to beat them this time, so it wasn't as hard as it was back in the Temple of Time, when I was new to defeating such an enemy. After a while, I trounced him.

Later on, we came back outside on the bridges connecting the different turrets to the castle. And guess who we ran into? Our mini dragon friend from the City in the Sky, Aerofols. So I took care of him, collected the key and continued on.

Then we made our way to another bridge, where the Boss Key chest sat. Perfect, now we just had to get that and we'd be one step closer to finding Ganondorf.

Suddenly, two Lizarfols came running at me, but before I could even draw my sword, I looked up and barely saw an arrow shot by a Bulblin coming right at me.

Then there was the screeching of a hawk and the arrow fell down a few inches from me, partly broken. Surprised at this, I looked up and saw the two Bulbins stationed in nooks of the the tower ahead, ready to shoot another arrow at me, when suddenly something shot at them and they fell off their posts, dead.

The two Lizarfols still ran at me, when there was an explosion and they were blown off the ledge!

What was going on here?

I looked up and saw a hawk flying around nearby, when it soared over and landed down below. I rushed to where the crack in the bridging was, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

Rusl, Auru, Ashei and Shad, the group trying to save Hyrule, were down below in the courtyard! Rusl had the hawk perched on his arm, Auru had a bazooka cannon, Ashei had a bow and arrow, and Shad...well, was being Shad, completely avoiding any physical work.

Rusl waved up at me, and I smiled and nodded back to him in thanks and confirmation. The group then hurried off, I guessed to guard the perimeter. I sure owed them a lot, they had unexpectedly helped me get to the places containing the Mirror Shards, and now had just saved my life.

I took the Boss Key, and went in through the locked door back into the castle. We were going higher up, so I guessed Ganondorf had to be in the tallest tower of the place.

After a few trouncing of Dark Nuts and Lizarfols, we finally reached the door that would take us to Ganondorf.

Unlocking it, we stepped through, ready and willing to end this great chaos once and for all.


	29. Final Showdown Part 1

All right you guys, here we are! It's the final countdown! (Does anyone know the title and artist of that song?)

We are now up against Ganondorf! Whoo!

Okay, I'm gonna be splitting the final showdown into two chapters. Yaaaay! :D

I actually watched my brother beat the game before I beat it myself, so I kind of knew what would happen and what to expect, even if it was over a year ago at the time that I actually started playing the game again.

And also, I'm going to have an alternate ending. :D Stay tuned!

--

We came back outside, at the entrance to the tallest tower. Dark and golden ominous clouds were hanging overhead, and it was very windy up here.

Going up the stairs, I saw that uphead in the tower was the throne room, where Zant had come and threatened to destroy Hyrule and its people if Zelda didn't surrender.

A blue carpet was leading into the room, Midna popped out of the shadows and floated alongside me as we slowly went inside, looking around the place.

A large statue of a head was laying down near us. We stared at it, and then my gaze traveled upward and we gasped.

In the triangular centre of the Triforce monument, which was above the throne, Princess Zelda was laying upright within it, looking like she was asleep, limply. She was an empty shell. Her cloak from before was gone, revealing her elegant dress and accessories.

I nearly ran forward to try to do something, but Midna held out her arm to block me protectively.

That was when she pointed out what I hadn't seen, and I tensed.

On the throne, sat a large man, with olive skin, evil-looking eyes, a cape, and armor. He had red hair, done in dreadlocks, and was sitting there on the throne as if it were his own, with his chin layed on his gloved fist. He resembled a male Gerudo, an ancient tribe consisting of women that had fled the desert long ago.

It was obviously Ganondorf.

"Welcome to my castle." Came his evil voice, accompanied by a cackle.

"So you're... Ganondorf." Midna said, her voice containing an edge.

Ganondorf slowly stood from the throne, chuckling, and holding a sheathed sword, which was none other than the sword that was used by the Sages to kill him. He had a glowing, gaping hole in his chest, obviously where the sword had struck at the time.

"I've been dying to meet you." Midna spat, baring her teeth at him.

"Your people have long amused me, Midna." Ganondorf said, taking a few steps forward. "To defy the gods with such petty magic, only to be cast aside... How very pathetic. Pathetic as they were, though, they served me well. Their anguish was my nourishment." He clenched his fist, looking bemused. "Their hatred bled across the void and awakened me. I drew deep of it and grew strong again. Your people had some skill, to be sure...but they lacked true power." He paused, and then looked up to where Zelda was before continuing. "The kind of absolute power that those chosen by the gods wield."

Ganondorf turned back to us and held up his own right hand, revealing to have the symbol of the Triforce, the power of the gods. Just like the Sages had said, like Zelda and I. "He who wields such power would make a suitable king for this world, don't you think?"

"You're a sick man..." I spat angrily.

"Ha! Such conceit!" Midna agreed, glaring hard at our enemy. "But if you are one of the chose wielders of power, as you claim... I will risk everything to deny you!" She threw her arms out in emphasis and frustration.

Looking amused and not the least bit threatened, Ganondorf chuckled. "Shadow has been moved by light, it seems... ...How amusing. Very well... Deny me, then! Yes, try to deny me... You and your little friend..."

Ganondorf's body was slowly dematerializing into twilight squares, rising into the air.

Seeing this, Midna gasped and floated up toward Zelda. She obviously could see what Ganondorf was going to try to do.

"Midna, don't!" I cried, but I couldn't stop her.

Midna floated before Zelda, holding her arms out in an attempt to block Ganondorf's path. Ganondorf's body then dematerialized into twilight squares, shooting up into the air. They then shot at Midna, going right past her and into Zelda. Wincing, Midna realized she hadn't been harmed and the squares had gone right past her, and then turned to Zelda. She went up to her face, raising her hand as if to hit her. She hesitated, and then faltered in an "I can't do it" manner, and instead placed her hand on her cheek.

Suddenly, Midna screamed and was sent flying away, tumbling to the ground and out the door.

"Midna!!!" I yelled, running toward her to rush to her aid, completely forgetting about Ganondorf and Zelda.

Before I could reach her, the golden barrier sprang up, blocking my path. I was trapped, and couldn't get to Midna. No! Midna!

I suddenly heard footsteps behind me, and turned around. Zelda was walking toward me, but I then saw she was no longer Zelda. Her eyes were an evil yellow, her skin was a sickly gray, and she had twili markings along her face, neck, shoulders and arms. Ganondorf's laugh came from her, and I then realized what had happened. Ganondorf was taking control of her body like a puppet!

"Both of you, faithless fools who would dare to take up arms against the king of light and shadow..." Ganondorf snarled, holding out Zelda's hand, and her sword, a rapier, flew into her hand. Her body then rose into the air high above me. "So you choose. And you shall feel my wrath!"

Ganondorf held Zelda's sword point up in the air, and an electric orb of energy gathered at the tip before she sent it flying toward me like a flying projectile.

Normally, I would've resorted to the Shield Attack, for some reason, my sword hand seemed to move on its own, as if it had done this before, and the blade struck the orb, sending it flying back toward Zelda's body.

Seeming surprised at this, the orb hit her and Ganondorf let out an agonizing groan of pain as the electricity circuited Zelda's body. He then recovered, and floated around, circling me before he stopped, and then rose the sword again. I prepared myself to fight back, when suddenly, a triangular shaped light appeared from beneath me. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I quickly rolled out of the way before I could find out.

Facing the puppet-controlled body of Zelda, I waited for his next attack. She rose the sword again, and I expected either the projectile orb, or the strange triangle. Instead, she shot toward me in an attempt to strike me with the rapier. I rolled out of the way, dodging the attack.

When Zelda would shoot the projectile toward me, I'd hit it back with my sword, sometimes with her having to hit it back, resulting in us volleying it back and forth a couple of times. After two more times of repeating this, Ganondorf let out an agonizing cry and was slowly falling to the ground, the electric currents running along Zelda's body.

The barrier dissipated, and to my relief, Midna stood up from where she'd fallen, appearing to be unscathed. The Fused Shadows appeared, which enveloped her and she became the strange seven-legged spider creature from before.

Ganondorf, still in possession of Zelda's body, but weakened, was struggling to stand up. Midna's arms then suddenly shot forward, grabbing Zelda's body and shooting it up against the throne. Ganondorf screamed in agony, a glowing light appeared from the body, and then Midna released her. Zelda was now sitting on her throne, her body still an empty shell, but free of Ganondorf's possession.

I smiled, relieved that now Zelda was safe.

Suddenly, there was a rushing from behind me and I turned around to see the twilight squares, obviously Ganondorf, forming and dematerializing into a solid form again. I tensed, readying the Master Sword.

Midna then floated over to me, laying her arm on my shoulder. I smiled at her, and knew that this time, we were in this together.

We watched in horror as Ganondorf took form, but the sounds of his growling and groaning were not settling. He grew in size, became harrier, on all fours, and then revealed to be a huge, hideous pig-like monster! With a red mane, and a longer and bigger glowing mark from where the Sages had stabbed him in the chest along his stomach. He also had enormous horns on his face, and a jewel on his forehead.

Ganondorf dropped down on all fours, causing an earthquake, and roared at us before he jumped back a few feet.

He then came charging at us, very fast for a large beast. I wasn't sure what else to do, but something told me that the jewel on his forehead was his weak point. It was smaller and would be harder to hit, but it was worth a try. So I quickly drew out my bow and arrows, shooting at the jewel.

Sure enough, Ganondorf roared in pain and then fell to the ground on his side, revealing his stomach. I guessed striking there would be best, since that WAS where he had been stabbed. So I rushed forward and struck him with the Master Sword, earning loud roars of agony each time. It worked!

Ganondorf rolled over and stood back up, running around the room and knocking down a few of the pillars. And then he suddenly disappeared!

I looked around the room, trying to spot him and make sense as to how and where he'd disappear to, wondering if he was planning a sneak attack. Along the barrier surrounding us, I noticed a red-coloured portal appeared. But then it disappeared and formed in another spot. And then again. Strange...could that have been Ganondorf?

Suddenly, the portal stopped and turned blue, and Ganondorf came running out from it toward us! I quickly readied my bow and arrow, shooting the jewel on his forehead. He fell over, and I stabbed and struck him a few times in the stomach before he once again regained himself and then disappeared.

I tensed, readying my bow and arrow to attack him again as I kept an eye on the portals, seeing which one would turn blue and then strike him when he came running out.

Like before, he came charging at us, and I shot my arrow at him. But it bounced off like it was nothing! His large head knocked into me and I fell to the side, slightly disoriented, but I stood up and regained myself.

Midna popped out of the shadows then. "Link, I have an idea! Turn into a wolf!"

"How will that help?!" I cried, looking around for Ganondorf."

"Trust me on this! I'll need you to brace yourself when Ganondorf comes running at us!" Midna took out the stone of Zant's curse and I touched it, turning into a wolf and then Midna returned to her old seat on my back.

I wasn't sure what Midna had in mind, but I knew I had to trust her. It seemed to be our only chance now.

Suer enough, Ganondorf came rushing toward us, and Midna's hand hair raised up, much to my confusion and surprise. When Ganondorf reached us, her hand hair thrust forward and grabbed onto his forehead! We slid back across the floor from the massive strength of the beast, but Midna held on, and I worked to do as she said, to brace myself against him. We struggled, and then Midna's hand hair pushed against Ganondorf's pig head, twisting, and then tossed him to the side where he fell on his side.

Midna had just tossed him aside in the same way as wrestling a charging goat! Amazing!

I turned back into a human and rushed over, striking the beast in the stomach with the holy Master Sword.

Ganondorf roared in agony as he rose onto his hind legs, his upper body waving in pain before he then fell forward onto the ground a few feet away. We backtracked toward the throne, making sure that he really was dead. A strange, glowing flame uproared from his fallen beastly form.

Suddenly, Midna's body began to glow, radiating glowing sparkles. She looked at herself in confusion, wondering what was happening. I stared in amazement as the sparkles slowly went toward Zelda, surrounding her in their holy light.

Midna stared at Zelda with amazement as she opened her eyes, revealing to now be very much alive. She could see that she had transferred Zelda's power back to her, bringing her back to life.

"Pr-Princess... I... I..." Midna stammered.

Zelda smiled gently. "Say nothing, Midna... Your heart and mine were as one, however briefly... Such suffering you have endured..."

Midna didn't answer, she closed her eyes and hung her head, looking ashamed as her lip quivered. Zelda walked toward us, but there was suddenly a rushing crash from behind us and we all turned around, gasping in surprise.

The dark and golden flames suddenly took the form of Ganondorf's head, revealing that he was very much still alive. He cackled at us, menacingly. I backed off a few steps to protect Midna and Zelda, but Midna stayed where she was.

She faced Ganondorf's flame form with determination, drawing out the Fused Shadows, the ancient power of her ancestors circling around her. I gasped in terror as I realized what she was going to do. She was going to face Ganondorf!

I had to stop her!

"Midna! Midna no! Don't-" I yelled out, reaching out to her to rush to her aid, but my body and Zelda's suddenly dematerialized into twilight squares and we disappeared from the room. And the last thing I saw was Midna's smiling, determined face.

No! Midna!!!!


	30. Final Showdown Part 2

And here is now part 2 of the final showdown!

Oh God, when I saw Ganondorf crush Midna's helm in his hand, I was so shocked and scared, thinking she was dead. Yet I knew she'd live, but still. Oh God, poor Link, he must've been SO angered!

And oh yes, one last thing, Midna's true form is so gorgeous! In such a striking and exotic way. :D I remember the first time I saw her in that form, and I was all surprised and awwed. XD

Well anyway, on with the story! :D

--

Zelda and I reappeared in Hyrule Field, far from Hyrule Castle. We looked around nervously, wondering if Midna had made it back with us, but she wasn't there. Had she really taken Ganondorf on alone?

"Link..." Zelda said softly. "Do you think Midna will...?" She couldn't finish her sentence, but I knew what she meant.

I couldn't answer, I didn't know what to think, I just wanted Midna to be all right!

"I...I don't know." I said finally.

A rumbling from the distance caught out attention. It was coming from Hyrule Castle! We faced the castle, silhouetted in the gold dark sky of the hour of twilight.

It then suddenly exploded in a cloud of dark smoke. Ganondorf must have set off an explosion to the castle and destroyed it!

Zelda and I stared in shock and horror, wondering if Midna was still in the castle when it blew up. We hoped that wasn't the case.

Within the smoke, Ganondorf appeared, upon his dark horse. He was still alive!

Zelda suddenly gasped as she saw what Ganondorf was holding up in his hand, his horse rearing. I followed her gaze, and what I saw made my blood boil and heart shatter.

Ganondorf was holding Midna's Fused Shadow helm! No...no! It couldn't be!

"MIDNA!" I cried out in a gasp.

His large hand crushed the pointed end of the Fused Shadow, which crumbled and he carelessly dropped it to the ground. Ganondorf rose his glowing sword and came charging toward us on his dark horse, and, to our surprise, an entourage of ghost riders came at us too!

Angered and filled with vengeance, and my grief and sorrow, I readied my sword and was about to charge at him, to kill him with all that I had for killing my precious partner, and for all that he had done.

Zelda then placed her hand on my sword hand, stopping me. I looked at her in confusion, and she faced me seriously, nodding once. She then brought her hand to her chest in a prayer, closing her eyes and bowing her head as she spoke softly.

"Spirits of the light! Wielders of the great power that shines far and wide upon the lands of our world... In my hour of need, grant me the light to banish evil!"

We then suddenly disappeared in a glow of holy light, and came to a mysterious, dark place, the ground lit with the holy water of a glowing light.

The four light spirits, Ordona, Faron, Eldin and Lanayuru all rose from the water then, to my greatest surprise. All four of their orbs then shot toward where Zelda was standing. The orbs of light glowed brightly, and Zelda held her hands out to receive it. The light cleared, revealing to be a set of golden arrows, unlike any kind of arrows I'd ever seen before.

Zelda then faced me, looking desperate and worried, but confident. "Link..." She said softly. "Chosen hero! Lend us the last of your power!" She then lay her hand against her collared piece, bowing a bit at the waist.

I couldn't believe Princess Zelda of all people was bowing to me, the mere Chosen Hero, descended from the Hero of the past. Now it was up to me, to both of us, to save Hyrule, the Twilight Realm, and above all, avenge our dear fallen comrade, Midna.

"I'll help you...Princess Zelda." I said, and held out my left hand to her.

Looking up, Zelda smiled in relief, and then took my hand in hers, sealing the deal.

--

We then found ourselves back outside in Hyrule Field again, and to my biggest surprise, we were riding on Epona! Zelda was sitting beside me, with a large white and gold bow in her hand. Ganondorf was up ahead of us, on his own horse, ready to charge at us. I had the Master Sword in hand, and holding Epona's reins with my other.

"I'll try to slow Ganondorf down with my light arrows!" Zelda told me. "You target him and keep him within range of my arrows!"

"Right." I said, and nudged Epona into a gallop.

We chased after Ganondorf, trying to keep him in range so that Zelda could shoot him with her light arrows. It was hard, since Ganondorf often made turns to confuse us, and to slow us down, would summon those annoying ghost riders.

It was hard to avoid them, and just as I was catching up to him, one of the ghosts flew right by me, and knocked me right off Epona! I was stunned for a second, but I got back up and re-mounted Epona. Zelda seemed all right, since she didn't fall, so I nudged Epona into a gallop and we continued running after Ganondorf.

We caught up to him, and keeping him in range, and I looked over my shoulder at Zelda and nodded to her. "Now! Hurry!"

Zelda drew a light arrow, and I could see why it was called a light arrow, since it glowed with a holy light at the tip. Zelda pulled back the bow string, waiting, and then shot the arrow.

Sure enough, it hit Ganondorf and the holy light circuited him like electricity, stunning him. Epona galloped toward him and I struck the evil demon thief with the Master Sword. He yelled out in agony, injured, but regained himself and kept on galloping away.

We repeated the process two more times, chasing him down and shooting him with the light arrows, and then striking him with my sword. With one final strike, Ganondorf faltered, his horse running blindly for a few moments before they staggered and fell to the ground.

Tensing, we watched for a moment to see if he was dead, but once the smoke cleared, we saw that he was still alive. Ganondorf cackled, rising to his feet with his sword in hand. It was somehow sheathed, also.

He cackled hard, and then looked at me, daring me to come over there and face him. "An impressive-looking blade... But nothing more. Would you hear my desire?" He drew the Sage's sword. "To use this foul blade...and use it to blot out the light forever!"

I dismounted Epona, and we walked toward each other. A barrier suddenly then surrounded us, spooking Epona. Zelda, still mounted on her, managed to grab her reigns and calm her down.

Ganondorf and I faced each other, this was it.

"Now the real show is about to start." Ganondorf bemused.

Before I could even plan to make a move, Ganondorf rushed toward me, clutching his sword in both hands in an attempt to strike me. I raised the Master Sword and blocked the attack, our swords clashing together. But it wasn't over yet. Ganondorf struggled, forcing his sword against mine, trying to push me back. I couldn't let him win, not like this.

Clutching the Master Sword hard, believing in its true power, I braced myself against the ground and pushed back at Ganondorf's sword. It was intense, I could feel my energy draining, but I had to do this. He was strong, but I could take him on.

I forced my strength onto him and Ganondorf was caught off guard, being pushed back. Taking a chance, I stabbed at his glowing wound, which was definitely his weakpoint, given when we were fighting him in his beast form. Sure enough, Ganondorf cried out in agony and then jumped a few feet away from me, regaining himself from the attack.

Now that he was on full guard, knowing my tactics, it was going to be challenging. My strength was slowly diminishing, and he was practically just getting started, appearing quite unscathed.

When I got to close, he'd thrust his sword at me, but if I was too far, he'd come charging and I'd barely have time to move. I couldn't attack him on contact, he would block or dodge my attack, skillfully.

This was bad. But I wasn't going to give up or give in. Not to him, not ever. We'd made it this far, and there was no turning back.

And then, I had an idea.

I waited, distancing myself from him and toying with him. It seemed to work, since Ganondorf now charged at me, his sword in both hands. Perfect.

I jumped toward him, clashing my sword with his. He knew this tactic by now, and was applying more strength than before, but I wasn't letting up. I forced my strength onto him, and forced him back a little, catching him off guard. Once open, I struck him in his weak spot, damaging him further.

This made Ganondorf more fierce, fast, and strong. He was losing, and he knew it. I knew it too. But he too wasn't giving up, and I had to defeat him. All of Hyrule and the Twilight Realm were depending on me.

I felt tired, weakened, and just enough for Ganondorf to rush into me, knocking me to the ground.

"Tired, boy?" He mocked, sneering. "Well, that is quite a shame. I was just getting warmed up..."

And then he charged at me once more, swinging his sword toward me, intending to finish me off. Luckily I managed to stand and clash the Master Sword against his, blocking his attack. It was getting harder for me, my muscles were sore and my body was tiring out, I don't think I was going to last much longer.

Ganondorf was expecting me to surrender, he knew I was tiring, he had the advantage.

That's when it all came to me. The kids, Telma, Rusl, Shad, Ashei and Auru, the Gorons, the Zoras, Yeto and Yeta, the monkeys, Zelda, all of Hyrule, the Twili, and most of all, Midna... They all seemed to come to me, I remembered all that I had done for them, the places I had been, the battles I fought, the things I saw, the items and I collected, all of which was what got me this far.

I was just a farm boy, living a quiet life in Ordon, and the day the Bulblins kidnapped the children and I first entered the Twilight was the day that my life changed forever. My destiny had awakened. And if Midna hadn't found me and freed me from that cell in the Hyrule Castle dungeons, I wouldn't be here now. If it wasn't for Midna and I, Hyrule would've succumbed to the Twilight and Ganondorf and Zant would clash our worlds to create darkness.

Midna...

I was going to avenge Midna!

And that was when I seemed to find new strength, and with all that I had left and so much more, I forced Ganondorf back. It was over, I was going to defeat him now. This was the end.

I struck him, weakening him enough, and he fell to the ground, stunned. That was when I thought to use the very first Hidden Skill that the Hero's Shade taught me, the Ending Blow. The final blow you would give to stunned enemies before they would regain themselves.

And so, I leaped into the air, the Master Sword blade down, and struck Ganondorf right in the chest where his wound was.

His mouth shot open in an agonized scream, absolute pain. I hurriedly leaped off of him, leaving the Master Sword struck in his wound.

Although he was slowly dying, Ganondorf slowly rose to his feet, staggering. It was over, there was no way he could fight anymore now. We could tell.

"Do not think it ends here..." He rasped, still putting up a fight. "The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!"

The mark of the triforce glowed on his hand, briefly, and then it disappeared. Above, in some kind of a ghostly, spiritual vision, Zant appeared. He stared at Ganondorf, and then cracked his neck.

This made Ganondorf utter a strangled cry, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Zelda and I stood there, watching him as he slowly died. I took a step forward, and Zelda made a soft prayer.

It was over. Truly over.

I still couldn't believe that Midna was gone, the grief struck me as though I were the one having been stabbed with the Master Sword. After all that we had gone through together, wearing through thick and think, I felt as though a part of me had gone with her. In the beginning, I couldn't stand her, and I didn't trust her. But by the time we had gotten all three Fused Shadows, we had gotten closer and shared a more special bond. I was sad about us parting ways, but by a twist of fate, our plans were put to a stop when Zant ambushed us and had Lanayru shine its light upon Midna, nearly killing her. Then our journey continued, searching heaven and earth for the shards to the Mirror of Twilight. We then defeated the traitorous usurper king and Midna regained her rightful place as the Twilight Princess.

Now, Ganondorf was defeated, and Hyrule was saved, as was the Twilight Realm. Everyone was saved, and could sleep safely from now on. Peace was returned to both worlds.

But I didn't feel as accomplished, knowing Midna was gone forever.

I didn't even get to tell that I-

Suddenly sensing something from behind me, I turned around and to my surprise, the four spirits of light were hovering above something atop the hill up ahead. They all glanced at me briefly, and then slowly faded away.

I was puzzled, wondering what had happened over there. It was then I saw a familiar silhouette outlined against the twilight sky. Gasping, I realized that it was Midna. Midna! She was alive!

"Go, Link." Zelda said softly from behind me.

I didn't even need to be told twice. In my joy, I hurried up the hill, not at all caring about my tired body and sore muscles from all the battles against Ganondorf. Midna was alive! I had to see her, I had to make sure she was okay, but above all, I was so glad she was alive!

Once I reached the top of the hill, I froze in my tracks, panting a bit. Something was wrong, though. Someone was kneeling on the ground, dressed in a black cloak with Twili markings along the back. Odd, where was Midna?

The person slowly stood up, their back facing me, and then turned around. It was a tall woman with light blue skin, eyes like Midna's, red-orange hair with some tied at her neck. She wore the cloak that covered most of her head, adorned with an odd headpiece. Her body was black and blue, looking like Midna's, except she wore a sarong around her waist, and silver anklet.

It was Midna, in her true form!

I gasped, gaping at her in surprise. I was completely speechless. She was so beautiful, even more beautiful than Zelda. In a striking and exotic kind of way. It was overwhelming, not just her amazing beauty, but the fact she was alive and the curse on her was broken.

Looking at her right then, it made me realize my feelings for her all along.

"What? Say something!" Midna said, smirking at me playfully. Her voice was more feminine and, different from the high pitched squeaky voice I was so used to. It was very melodious, also. "Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?"

Regaining myself, I just smiled in absolute pair joy. Midna was alive, and back to her true form. I had never felt happier than I did right then.


	31. Ending

We're here, at the end, people! Sniffle...

Wow, I can't believe it. It's over. I made it this far, I finished it, I novelized the entire game through Link's point of view! I can't believe it! I just can't! It's so mind boggling, I swear.

I just want to take a moment and once again thank the awesome ferngirl, who's story of _Twilight Princess_ through Midna's eyes inspired me to go forth and create this, the game told through Link. Thank you so much, ferngirl! You've been a great help and inspiration to me since the beginning, and I just LOVED reading your fic with Midna telling the story through her eyes. It was just wonderful, and I felt inspired to do this too. Thank you!

I also want to thank the person who made the visual guide of the game, because if not for that, I would've had a VERY hard time getting the dialogue and situations. Yes, I'm still kind of pissed that he/she skipped some scenes and getting some stuff, but whatever. It all managed fine in the end.

And I also want to thank all of you awesome readers who have taken the time to read this and encourage me to keep writing it. Thank you all SO MUCH! You were all great, and I love hearing what you have to say about all this. You've helped me in keeping it going, and I appreciate every single one of your wonderful reviews. Thanks again! :)

Oh God, the ending just makes me want to cry. I can't believe Midna just left and shattered the mirror! I do understand why she did it, but it's just SO sad!

I really, really hope there's a direct sequel to this game, and that they bring Midna back. And...well, you know, PAIR HER WITH LINK!!!! :D ...Okay, that's wishful thinking on my part. But seriously! They just HAVE to bring her back!!!

And so we can actually play her in the next Super Smash Brothers game.

I have an alternate ending that I really, REALLY wanted to go with, but I wanted to stick to the storyline of the game. So, I decided to make it alternate!

Here's the REAL ending.

--

We were all at Arbiter's Grounds, in the Mirror Chamber. Zelda and I were seeing Midna back to the Twilight Realm.

There was no turning back now. It was goodbye, nothing could possibly get in our way this time.

I was saddened that we had to say goodbye for good now. Even more so back in the Lakebed Temple when I felt this way, and when we were about to find the Mirror of Twilight.

I was going to miss Midna so much. We'd gotten so close, and now that I realized my true feelings for her, it was even harder to let her go.

"Well...I guess this is farewell, huh?" Midna finally said, breaking the silence. "Light and shadow can't mix, as we all know. But... Never forget that there's another world bound to this one."

"Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin..." Zelda said. "One cannot exist without the other. I know now the reason the goddesses left the Mirror of Twilight in this world... They left it because it was in their design that we should meet. Yes... That is what I believe."

Midna was silent for a few moments, considering her words, and then she smiled. "Zelda... Your words are kind and your heart is true. If all in Hyrule are like you... Then maybe you'll do all right." She turned and headed to the stair space on the platform, causing the lighted stairs to appear. She turned back to us. "Thank you... Well, the princess spoke truly: as long as the mirror's around, we could meet again."

My heart skipped at the notion, as I stood there keeping as straight a face as I could. Of course, why didn't I think of it before? With the Mirror of Twilight, we could go back and forth between our worlds, and still meet again.

A tear formed in Midna's eye, and she smiled at me. "Link..." The tear fell from her eye, and become a little sparkling light that floated away from her. "I..." Gently, she propelled it away with her hand, sending it toward the Mirror of Twilight. "See you later..."

What was she going to say? Why did she stop herself? Was she-

The tear landed on the Mirror, and to our surprise and horror, the glass cracked Zelda and I gasped at this, suddenly knowing what this meant. Because she was the ruler of the Twilight Realm...

I quickly turned back to face Midna. "Midna!" I gasped.

Midna was hurrying up the steps of the light stairs, stopping at the top platform. She turned around and smiled at us, gently but sadly. The Mirror of Twilight shone its holy light at Midna, signifying its activation to send her through the portal to the Twilight Realm.

I couldn't believe it, Midna was leaving, and shattering the Mirror. I watched helplessly, here I was the Chosen Hero and yet I couldn't do anything to stop it. No matter how much I wanted to.

Her body then slowly dematerialized into dusted sparkles instead of twilight squares, slowly departing into the void. It wasn't long before her body was gone completely, and disappeared into the portal.

The minute she was gone, the glass of the Mirror of Twilight shattered. With absolutely no hope of restoring it.

Zelda and I stood there for some time, looking to the large, black rock that once held the portal to the Twilight Realm. Midna was gone...forever.

Midna...

--~~--

I returned to Ordon, and saw that the children and Ilia had come home safely. Their parents were glad to have them back, and they were all glad to finally be home. At least they were safe in Kakariko Village, and now they were finally where they belonged.

Colin, he had changed so much. He was much braver, now takings word lessons from Rusl, and ready to protect his new baby sibling, which Uli had given birth to during my journey.

Bo was so happy that Ilia was back, and Ilia was happy to see him again as well, after having lost her memory and then getting it back, it was good to be home and remembering all of her life.

Hyrule and all its people were saved, and at peace. For a time.

And now I was riding away from Ordon, on Epona, proudly wearing my Hero's Garb. I knew Fado would be going to my house and calling to me, realizing that I'm not there. I knew Ilia would be waiting for me, knowing I had left.


End file.
